Shin Ookami
by Kazemi Reikaze
Summary: After Natsume's betrayal. Mikan decided she was better off without him and with an offer from the head master. She meets Naruto and co. and becomes who she really is. Now training with Naruto Namikaze and Persona she becomes the Death Wolf.
1. Prologue

Shin Ookami: Prologue

Two figures sat under a cherry blossom tree a raven haired boy and the other a chestnut haired girl. A calming silence engulfing the two enjoying each other's company. Others say that they were complete opposites and it was strange how they got along with each other, but then again, in their school nothing is what it seems.

"Hey polka?" the raven haired boy started breaking the silence

"What is it Natsume?" the chestnut haired girl answered

"Never mind…" Natsume,13, trailed off

And once again there was a silence between the two.

"Polka… I still love you…" Natsume said quietly hoping that she didn't hear but also hoping that she would.

Mikan,13, was dumbstruck at what Natsume had just said. She didn't know what to say, she knew that Natsume and Yumi were together, actually, everyone knew that. But the truth was that Natsume had fallen for Mikan first and Yumi was just a rebound. What happened? Well Mikan finally got serious with her academics and so. Unfortunately, she was too serious; to the point that she wouldn't even allow the person she loved the most to court her.

And so, a month after Natsume's attempt to court her, he found a rebound and got together with her, the girl being the said Manoshi Yumi.

Mikan thought that Yumi would be perfect for Natsume; she thought that they were perfect for each other. But the rest preferred Mikan and Natsume together, but never spoke out about it.

"But aren't you and Yumi still together?" Mikan spoke monotonously her heart and mind racing.

"I broke up with her." Natsume bluntly said

"Oh…" was the only thing Mikan could say

There was a long moment of silence. Tension could be felt between the two.

"Please… believe me… I've thought about it long and hard. I'm not happy with her. I was happier with you… even though we weren't together and were just friends. I was happy just being with you… even though it hurt."

"Natsume… I'm not sure… I… I'm scared of what might happen when her 'friends' found out that we got together right after you broke up with her. Please, not now… I… I'm just…" Lost for words, Mikan paused to stop and think

"Please give me time to think…"

Silence… the raven and the finch (1) looked at opposite directions, refusing to look at the other.

"Mikan… I…"

"Please Natsume… don't confuse my heart… I still love you… I do… but… Natsume, just give me time…"

"Please Mikan… I'm willing to wait… willing to protect you from them… but please, just tell me yes."

"I…"

Mikan was cut off by Natsume suddenly pinning her to the ground his arms and legs at her sides.

"Natsu…!"

She suddenly felt his lips on hers. Not knowing how to react, she stayed still.

After what seemed like an hour to Mikan, Natsume finally lifted his head. Ruby met amber.

"Uhm… Can you get off me now?" Mikan started

"…"

"Natsume?"

"Please say yes…"

"Natsume, I have no idea why you just did that… but for whatever it was for it worked… a bit…"

With this Natsume's eyes lit up.

"But before I officially say it… I want you to promise me this… No one will find out that we are together. Well not at least after a month and a half of your break up day with her."

"That's it?" Natsume finally said.

"Yes, now get off me!"

He did get off, but what he did was roll to the side and pulled her closer to him, letting her head rest on his chest.

"_Sigh_, you just don't change."

"I love you too."

Mikan smiled and kissed him on the cheek snuggling closer to Natsume.


	2. Chapter 1

Story summary: After Natsume's betrayal. Mikan decided that she was better off without him and with an offer from the head master. She meets Naruto and co. and becomes who she really is. Now with training from Naruto Namikaze and Persona. She becomes a formidable opponent of what's to come.

WARNING slightly OOC CHARACTERS… Slight Natsume bashing Major Sasuke and Sakura bashing. Paring: MikanxOC Now, let's get on with the story…

Note: Naruto/Gakuen Alice Crossover

Disclaimer: I (sadly) don't own Gakuen Alice or Naruto or its characters. Or anything that is known by the readers (songs, brand names of drinks and the like)

P.S. Please read the last part to see the meanings or explanations of the numbered terms.

(Me talking)

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

"_Flashbacks"/ Flashbacks_

_demon talking/conscience/mental link talk_

Change Scene

* * *

Shin Ookami: Chapter 1

Mikan awoke from her slumber, checked the time in her cell phone. It was only 04 00 (1). She decided to just get up and get her training for the day over with. She was currently in a secluded area in the academy's southern forest. A place where no one even dared to go, not even the so called Kuro Neko (Black Cat).

She started training a few months after she turned 13. Now 15, they had discovered many things about her. One of these is the fact that she was a multi-alice, having the alices of nullification, copy, erase and steal. Not to mention that at the start of her training Persona found out that she has been unconsciously molding chakra. Therefore, her former two year training course was increased to five years with additional trainers namely Namikaze Naruto and Nara Shikamaru.

At first, Mikan didn't want to go and leave just for training because she knew all too well of what would happen if she did. Also, she didn't want to leave her friends, but then, something happened that made her want to go and disappear out of everyone's sight.

* * *

_Mikan was walking down the hallway of the academy going to the cafeteria where she was going to meet Natsume. Just before she went there she was called to go to the principal's office, where she was given an offer. They gave her one day to decide. Snapping herself back to the real world, she turned left and found herself being greeted by a scene she never thought she'd see so soon._

_Natsume was lip-locking with Yumi. And it was only a day after she agreed to be his girlfriend! She didn't want to believe it, she thought it was just a nightmare, but there was no mistake, it was Yumi alright; she knew that bright pink hair all too well._

_Tears threatened to fall from her eyes as she watched the scene play right in front for her._

_Letting her instincts take over. She walked up to them with blank eyes and pulled Natsume off Yumi._

_Natsume, panicking, tried to explain "Mikan! I can explain! She…" but he was cut off with Mikan's hand colliding with his cheek, leaving a red hand mark on his right cheek, his face to the side, eyes wide._

"_Never talk to me again, you bastard;" Mikan turned to Yumi "and I hope that you'll be happy with him, bitch…" Mikan managed to say through her tears and walked away._

_As Mikan walked to the office, she thought of what would happen once she walks through the doors of the office. She'd have to endure not seeing her friends, Hotaru, Anna, Nonoko, Ruka, Narumi-sensei, Natsume... she stopped herself. No, she won't miss him, she hated him now, loathed his being, and she never wanted to see him again. Yes, once she walks through those doors, she won't see him anymore. Not seeing him was what made her want to go, badly, if she could spend two years not seeing the bastard then she'd gladly endure not seeing her real friends for two years._

_She reached the doors of the office, pushed through the doors with no hesitation and stood at the middle of the room, directly in front of the head master's table. "When do I leave?"_

* * *

Mikan has been training for two years already and she has improved in leaps and bounds. She would be on par with Konoha's famous, but fucked-up, Uchiha Sasuke. Heck she bet she was even better than him, simply because she was trained by people he'd never be, namely Namikaze Naruto and Nara Shikamaru.

Naruto trained her in taijutsu as well as mental attacks (2) interrogation and of course jutsus and the like. On the other hand, Shikamaru taught her in strategy making, traps (most of which he learned from Naruto) and often just played Games of the Generals, Chess and the like as a form of training and well most of the time just relaxing and "meditating", but when he isn't being his lazy ass self he'd teach her some jutsus from his clan which confused all of them because supposedly it was only his clan that would be able to do shadow techniques but they just shrugged it off. On the other hand, Persona, was (obviously) teaching her how to control her alice/s efficiently; though he has some help from friends of his when it comes to actually using it in battle.

One time while she was meditating, she found out something about herself she would never have thought of.

* * *

_Mikan…_

_Mikan kept her eyes closed but sharpened her senses, she didn't feel any presence around._

_Mikan…_

_Suddenly, Mikan felt her body going numb and felt as if she was falling in an endless pit of darkness. She opened her eyes to see a girl, wearing a dark grey kimono that looked exactly like her, only that this girl had black hair and crimson eyes. The girl offered Mikan her hand that Mikan hesitantly accepted. But once she saw more details of the girl's appearance, only one thought came to her 'don't tell me I've got a demon inside of me' but first, she had to confirm it._

"_Uhm… If I may ask… just who are you?" Mikan asked_

"_I am you and you are me…" the girl stated walking to a wooden chair._

_Mikan became confused, what was she? She followed her and stood in front of the raven haired girl. _

"_What do you mean by that?" Mikan asked her mind racing to find answers. As she thought pictures of possibilities surrounded the two._

_The girl realizing that Mikan was looking for answers gazed at the pictures surrounding them._

'_Hmm, so she has met Suzaku-san's (3) jinchuuriki (4), interesting.' The raven haired girl thought_

"_Mikan, we are inside your mind, you control this 'universe' and whatever your thoughts are I see."_

"_Oh… So does that mean that you are inside me?"_

"_Yes and no. I am a demon like Suzaku-san, but I am not sealed inside you. For I am you. Mikan you are actually a demon. A demon of noble blood the same family as Suzaku-san. I am what you were and are in the other life and the demon world respectively. And the appearance you see of me now is how you actually look like. The current you is simply what you morphed yourself to be."_

"… _How can this be?" Mikan questioned. The weight of what the girl had said falling down on her, hard. _

"_We are actually Suzaku-san's sister, but since he started to ascend the throne of the king of bijuu (5). There were many threats against us, many were plotting to kidnap or kill us in want of the throne. So we decided, along with Suzaku-nii-sama (big brother), that we were to transfer ourselves to the human world, and so we were born in the Sakura family and are who we are now." Natsuki explained_

_Mikan opened her mouth wanting to speak, but no words came to her._

"_Your real name is Kyuubi Natsuki (6), and you are a 9-tailed demon, sister of Kyuubi Suzaku." _

"_Would that mean that you would disappear one day? Like how Suzaku-san would disappear once Naruto-niichan's seal absorbs all of his chakra?" Mikan asked, worry evident on her face_

"_Well when you will assume your place as a member of the Kyuubi clan again, I'll just become a voice in your head, your conscience kind of. Also, Suzaku-nii-sama wouldn't exactly disappear; since he decided to give his throne to Naruto-san then Naruto-san would become one with him and then Naruto-san would become a demon slash him."_

"_Shouldn't he become a hanyou (7)? Since niichan is human?"_

"_No, a jinchuuriki would become a hanyou if: he absorbs the demon's chakra or a human merges with a one to five tailed demon. But to merge with or absorb the chakra of a six to nine tailed demon is turning that human into a demon."_

"_Oh… Well at least I won't be lonely once I assume my place again… but I am not getting your name when I assume my place because then I wouldn't know what to call you when I'm talking to you"_

"_Whatever you say…"_

"_Okay then__!" Mikan exclaimed hugging Natsuki._

* * *

Ever since that day, Mikan became more confident and determined because she wanted to actually deserve her clan name. She didn't want to be just a member of the clan just because she was born in it and also she didn't want people to revere her because of her name. No way would she want to be like the Uchiha-teme. And also, she was happier, because she had a stronger bond with her Naruto-niichan and since he would become Suzaku-san (eventually) they'd be real siblings! Ever since she got to know him, she respected and admired him for his loyalty and perseverance, and also because of his authenticity. But when he supported her in her time of need, she decided that he'd be one of her most precious ones.

Naruto is one of her most trusted ones. He was the first one (aside from Hotaru and the gang) she told about regarding the _incident_. She didn't expect him to approach her and ask about her constant alone-time at the start of their training but she was glad he did because she would've gotten herself killed in her first mission if he didn't. That was the first time she truly laughed after 5 months of depression caused by the bastard.

* * *

Academy grounds

Mikan wearing a black wolf mask stealthily jumped from tree to tree of the northern forest. She was in the edge of the academy's northern forest where she constantly copied alices that she deemed useful for her in battle. She had copied at least, if not more, a thousand alices already, which included the ones she got from missions as well as some jutsus that she got when she, Naruto and Shikamaru were on missions in Konoha, Suna or wherever the mission was.

All in all, Mikan had practically been around the world already. She gained knowledge from every place she went to, both in wisdom and intelligence and of course a few moves from the friends of Naruto. She was close with the Jiraiya, the toad sannin, and Tsunade, the slug princess, who is the first female hokage of Konoha (8) and is also a famous medic-nin. She also met the rookie nine. She liked the rookie nine with the exception of Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, those two were bitches. Yes both of them because she thinks Sasuke's gay.

You might be wondering why she was even in the northern forest in the first place. Well it's because her three trainers gave her a training mission. 'Collect all parts of your two Jericho's that are hidden in the school grounds but remain undected'. When she found out that they had disassembled and hid her two guns she was fuming. So right after they told her the details she immediately shunshined (9) out of there and started searching for her guns. Thinking that if there was any scratch on any part of her guns she'd kick their asses.

Since she finished her mission early and didn't have to go back just yet, she decided to lounge around among the cherry blossom trees for awhile. En route to her favorite spot, Mikan stopped when she saw bluish-black hair that (she thought) belonged to someone she knew all too well, and now was not the time that she wanted to see him.

When she was a few meters away from the said person she saw that it wasn't who she thought it was and she let out a sigh.

'Thank God…' Mikan thought

_You really must not want to see him if you get so uptight after just seeing something similar to him._

'I have been long over that Natsuki. I'm just still mad at him. And the reason why I don't want to see him now is because I might hospitalize him. Translation, I'm going to make him my punching bag.' Mikan said/thought.

She cut the conversation off and continued on her way. It was only 17 00 (5:00 pm) she had three more hours before she had to report back home. As she neared the cherry blossom tree they used to hang out in. She detected that there was someone else there. So she approached the tree cautiously making sure that she wouldn't get detected by whoever was there. She climbed up the highest branch where it was shaded enough to cover her but thin enough for her to see the scenery. She concealed her presence from anyone who might feel her presence namely _him_ and maybe even Hotaru who she knew was smart enough to be somewhat like her and Natsume.

It was already late March and the cherry blossoms were already in bloom. The petals were falling aimlessly around her. She let the cherry blossoms fall down on her. She still wore the mask because she didn't dare risk getting herself discovered not only because she was supposedly dead (10) already but also because of the consequences the trio would think up of for failing to follow the second part of the mission.

Mikan grabbed her iPod and started off with playing one of her favorite songs which was, Vegas Skies by The Cab. The song played and lulled her to sleep.

* * *

Natsume's POV

I walk casually to the sakura tree, I have the day off because there's this meeting all of the teachers are having and Persona hasn't given me any missions lately… well actually I haven't been getting any missions from him for the last 3, 4-5 months, I've lost count. I wonder why, but then again it's better since I my life would be at less risk without having to do missions.

I sit down under the sakura tree and start to read my manga. Well at least I attempt to, I've got this nagging feeling that I'm not alone so I couldn't concentrate on my manga because I'm too busy watching out for any attacks.

_Sigh_ okay I give up… 30 minutes has passed already and there's still no sign of the person who I think will attack me. Oh well, who cares anyway… what should I do now? I think I'll take a small nap.

I lean my head on the tree's trunk, I look towards the falling cherry blossoms… that's when I saw someone perched on the top branch of the tree, I'm not known as the Kuro Neko for nothing you know. I silently climb up the tree until I've reached the last branch within my reach that didn't require me to jump, and so I'm forced to just stay here in this branch so that I won't be detected.

* * *

Mikan's POV

I awake from my nap when I felt a presence nearing. I cautiously look down towards the direction of presence, when I do so; I fully regret that I had looked down. Perched on top my branch was Hyuuga Natsume, staring at me with his deep crimson eyes wide. Heh, I bet he thinks that I don't know that he's there... well unfortunately for him I do, which was the reason why I woke up from my nap. When I decide that it was time for me to leave him, I felt that a hand grabbed my arm that prevented me from doing so.

I look at him avoiding his gaze I don't think he could recognize me with my mask on and well, even if I don't have the mask on I don't think he would recognize me either because Naruto-niichan put a genjutsu on me ever since I was announced dead. He said that it was a very powerful one that not even a genjutsu specialist would be able to detect it. The genjutsu changed my eye color and hair color as well. I looked like a female carbon copy of Naruto-niichan, well according to Persona-niichan and Shikamaru-niisan that is, and maybe even some of the villagers too, because every time I'm with Naruto-niichan they always ask if I was his sister or something. Well I can't blame them and besides, based on what Natsuki said I am his sister. Anyway, going back to what's happening.

"What do you want?" I ask him firmly

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Natsume asks looking me in the eye

"Why do you care _Kuro Neko_? Or are you afraid of a little competition… with a girl?" I tell him with a hidden grin

"Whatever… Just tell me who are you and why are you here." He asks me once again

"Fine" I said "Kuro Ookami aka Shibou Ookami (Death Wolf) aka Shin Ookami (Genuine Wolf), and I am here on a mission…" She pauses for dramatic effect "Satisfied?" I ask him this time facing him.

He finally let go of my arm and I immediately exit using shunshin no jutsu that niichan (Naruto-niichan) taught me but once I perfected it I created my own variation, so instead of leaves, I changed it to a mix of the four main elements.

* * *

Normal POV

After Mikan shunshined to her home for the past two years, she found herself surrounded by a pack of foxes, who she guessed were summoned by Naruto. She immediately calmed herself down and used her animal pheromone alice to calm down the foxes. After she did so Naruto, dressed in his usual shinobi outfit, was walking towards her.

"Stand down," Naruto commanded the foxes "so how'd the mission go Mikan?"

"It was fine niichan…it was pretty easy… only, I got a bit careless and Kuro Neko saw me. Where's Shika-nii?" Mikan asked Naruto as she sat down on the crisp green grass of the garden surrounded by the summons of Naruto

"Well, he's going to meet you sooner or later anyway so it doesn't really matter…" Naruto says as he dismisses his summons "Shikamaru is currently the proctor of the first part of the chuunin exams, he'll be back by tomorrow. And by the way Mikan, did Natsuki tell you how to summon your 'minions' already?" Naruto lightly snickering asked Mikan

"Yeah…It's very easy no need to bite my thumb hahaha!" Mikan pauses and thinks "But I still don't get how she and Suzaku-san are siblings…" Mikan wondered putting her index finger under her chin

"He says it's because they're from the same genes (obviously) the only difference is what kind of animal they become. It's rare to have the same kind of transformation in the same family, and each type of tailed demon is one family or clan…" Naruto explained

"Ah… onii-chan do you want to eat already? I'll prepare the food… What do you want?" Mikan asked offering to prepare their dinner

"I'd like miso ramen please! Oh and Persona-nii says he wants beef with veggies for dinner." Naruto said beaming up at the word food

"Do you need help?" said Naruto

"No thanks… you should rest, and besides you just came back from an S rank mission from Tsu-baa-san… I think you deserve the rest onii-chan…" Mikan smiles "and besides I'm capable of cooking you know…" Mikan said as she turned her back and proceeded to the kitchen

"Arigatou (thank you) Mi-chan" Naruto said as he lied down on the grass with head using his hands as a pillow.

* * *

Later that Night

Persona, Mikan and Naruto were spending their free time reading, watching the television and studying. There was a comfortable silence between the three. Over the years, Mikan had come to see Persona as a big brother. The three would tease each other with even the smallest thing whenever they could. On certain occasions when Shikamaru wasn't being a lazy ass (or even if he was still his usual self) and they were all in a good mood, they would have an outing where their destinations reached as far as the other side of the world.

"Hey, Mikan how strong do you think you are now?" Persona asked out of the blue.

"Uhm… Last time we checked I was at least low-chuunin (11) level." Mikan asked not really knowing her own strength.

"And that was when?" Naruto asked her still reading her book

"Uhm… The end of the first year of my training with Persona?" Mikan asked rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment.

"And you weren't even a genin (12) then. Heck _I _wasn't even training you then, it was only this year when you became a genin and just two months after that you were promoted to a chuunin. According to Suzaku, he says you're at a level of an ANBU (13) with or without the help of Natsuki. It's pretty off the scales for someone your age and also the fact that you're a girl even makes it more impressive." Naruto said proud of his legally adopted little sister. (Even though they technically are siblings they made it legit so... yea, plus they changed her name to Kazemi Namikaze when they decided to announce Mikan as KIA)

"Just like you Naruto." Shikamaru said suddenly coming out of nowhere as he lazily dropped his bag to the floor "Come here you…" Shikamaru said putting his arms out for Mikan.

"Shika-nii, you're back!" said Mikan as she ran to Shikamaru hugging him around the neck.

Shikamaru carried the fifteen year old up as they hugged.

(-pauses scene- Time for Character Introductions)

* * *

Character Introductions

Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze

Rank: Special Jounin (was ANBU Captain for 3 years starting at the age of 15)

Age: 20

Birth Date: October 10

Outfit: same as in the shippuden series only instead of orange it's red.

Hitai-ate: Forehead

Weapons: two katanas placed at his back both of black metal outlined red

Shikamaru Nara

Rank: Special Jounin

Age: 20

Birth Date: September 22

Outfit: (same as the anime)

Hitai-ate: Left muscle area

Weapons: Standard Ninja weapons

Persona

Rank: Teacher/ Special Jounin

Age: 32

Birth Date: November 5 (let's just say)

Outfit: (same as Anime)

Hitai-ate: only uses it when necessary

Weapons: pistols/ sniper (mostly guns)

Mikan Sakura

Rank: Chuunin

Age: 15

Birth Date: January 1

Hitai-ate: only uses it inside Konoha on her left bicep

Mission Outfit: Imagine Alice's outfit in Resident Evil: Extinction. Make it black, the shirt is light grey almost white. Instead of gun holsters at the two legs, change it to a kunai/shuriken holster (like Naruto's only its black) placed at the left leg positioned like Naruto's in the anime and wears a black trench coat similar to Anko Mitarashi. Wears a porcelain black wolf mask similar to what an ANBU would wear only that the mask is black instead of the normal white.

Usual (Ninja) outfit: (note: she looks like a mini Female Naruto) She wears red tube top that stops right above the mid-drift continued by a net mesh shirt. She wears a similar bolero version of Naruto's jacket only that it is pure black. She wears red pants with two black lines at the sides and wears black ninja shoes. She ties her hair back to a high ponytail with her bangs framing her face and her weapon pouch is found at the left thigh and she carries her mask everywhere with her placed at her right hip or she wears it. Sometimes, she wears her black trench coat.

Weapons: A black metal katana outlined with blue placed on her back (mostly on missions for the academy but carries it with her everywhere when on a training trip at any of the hidden villages) and carries with her two alice/chakra modified Jericho 941s.

(And now continuing on to the story)

* * *

Mikan, Naruto and Shikamaru were training in the open field of the forest. Mikan stood in the middle and the other two couldn't be found, or so they think.

'Okay fact one, I'm fighting two veterans of the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai or also known as the Special Assassination and Tactical Squad more commonly known as the ANBU. Fact two, I'm freaking talking to myself and I've totally forgotten about the fact that I'm training until now.' Mikan thought to herself

_Mikan, relax… Sharpen your senses… they're hiding somewhere and I'm sure you'll be able to find them._

'Hai...' Mikan responded. She started to calm down, her shoulders relaxed and her senses were sharpened.

A breeze passed by Mikan as she listened carefully for any footsteps or movement. Just as another breeze passed by:

'There!' Mikan whipped her hand and unsheathed her katana. She pierced the blade to the ground and it stood there right in front of her. Just a second after she did a moving shadow that came from a certain Shadow Manipulator. The shadow was stopped abruptly by the sword. Her sword wasn't just like any sword no; the sword is able to control any element, where shadows fall under darkness, and is able to store chakra. If there would be any one stupid enough to take it from her, the sword would control the thief and force the person to kill himself. Everything that belonged to Mikan belonged to her and was thief proof.

Mikan flipped back and turned towards the north where a barrage of shuriken rained down on her. She gracefully twisted and turned to avoid several shuriken and grabbed her katana.

"Aegis!" Mikan shouted. With no second to waste the winds surrounding Mikan deflected the shuriken much like the Heavenly Spin of the Hyuuga Clan of Konohagakure. Slowly a shadow crept near Mikan and she was soon captured by the Shadow Copy Skill of her other sensei.

"Good but not good enough Mikan…" Naruto said as he held Mikan by the neck with kunai pressing at her throat, Mikan's shadow being controlled by Shikamaru.

"Don't get cocky sensei." Mikan said as she puffed into smoke

'Hn, a shadow clone…' Naruto said to himself. The next thing that happened was Naruto blocking the various attacks that her student sent at her getting a few lands on herself and vice versa.

Soon enough Shikamaru jumped out of the shadows of the forest that surrounded them screaming and his butt aching like hell with grey smoke trailing behind him. Naruto who turned out to be a shadow clone poof-ed out of existence and the real Naruto finally came out.

"Okay that's enough training for today Mikan." Naruto said coming out of nowhere.

"Ne, Naruto why do I always have to be the ONLY one here actually training her?" Shikamaru asked

"Well because you weren't here yesterday and I was the only one training her yesterday… what do you think?" Naruto stated as they walked together to the house.

"Okay Mikan let's check your progress… well one you've already mastered all of your alices. Then you already know a lot of jutsus and even created some, though they are still unnamed. Your strength is already equal with that of an ANBU captain. You're completely healthy; you've got an IQ of over 200. And you have already completed everything we planned for your five year training course. So I guess there's nothing much to do anymore, well besides for you to hone your skills in kenjutsu and activate your Kekkei Genkai and master it… which is… soon…" Naruto stated

"Okay… wait… **I have a bloodline limit? I never knew that!**" Mikan shouted

"Calm down Mikan… and yes you have a bloodline limit… all jinchuuriki turned hanyou or demon has one but for your case you actually own one and no one else has it. Let's take Gaara for instance; he has the ability to control sand even without Shukaku inside of him anymore. Why? Because Shukaku gave it to him as a 'gift'. Our Kekkei Genkai is a gift to us by the demon we contain. But for you, rather than a normal Kekkei Genkai it's a demon type of bloodline limit because you are a pure natural demon. Anyway go on and ask Natsuki-chan about it." Naruto said when they reached the door of the door

"Okay… I'll be there in a minute." Mikan said as she sat down on the ground meditating. After a few seconds Mikan got sucked inside her own mind.

* * *

Mikan's Mindscape

"Hey there Natsuki-chan… Onii-chan said that we have a bloodline limit… What is it?" Mikan asked Natsuki

_Yeah… actually it's going to activate tomorrow already ours is a demon bloodline. The Hoshingan, it has many abilities which I will tell you once it activates. Oh… and just to tell you… I know this because if you remove the genjutsu that's on you right now, you'll see that your eyes are like cat's eyes already. The Hoshingan has nine levels, every time you go to the next level, you get one tail. So you'll be getting nine tails all in all…_

"So you're telling me, that once I activate each level, I get tails? I don't want to walk around with nine tails following behind me!" Mikan said

_Baka… you'll only be able to see the tails once you transform into your demonic form. And once you get all nine tails, you get to assume your place in the Kyuubi clan. And will have your original appearance, meaning you'll look exactly like me._

"So I'm going to be my original self already huh… we'll at least I won't be lonely 'cuz you're not going anywhere" Mikan said with a smile

_Hn… Yea… But there's a bit of problem though… when you will go to the demon world everyone there would refer to you as Natsuki since it is your real name and you might not be able to contact me if your there since we'll be completely one there._

"Hmmm… okay…" Mikan said, a sad thought entering her mind.

_Yeah… Yup so I think that's about it… I'll just talk to you once I remember whatever I think I missed. You should go rest. You're gonna have a big day tomorrow._

"Yeah… I'm pretty tired too…" Mikan yawns "Night Natsuki-chan" Mikan said as she stepped out of her mind's landscape.

* * *

Normal World

When Mikan got out of her mind, she saw Naruto standing over her looking at her worriedly. Mikan stood up and looked at Naruto, wondering why she was worried.

"What's wrong nii-chan? You look worried…" Mikan asked

They look at each other for awhile before…

Naruto hits Mikan on the head. "Baka! Of course I'd be worried of you! It took you so long to come back! And you said it'll just take you a minute!" Naruto stated

"Really?" Mikan looks at the sky "Oh… It's already night time… Never noticed that awhile ago… I thought it was still early… (Sweat drops) heehee…. Please don't hurt me!" Mikan half screamed as she ran to the door.

Naruto just laughed at Mikan's figure running towards the door.

"Uwa! Help me!" Mikan screamed as she ran behind the couch where Persona and Shikamaru were seated.

"Now, now Naruto… we wouldn't want to ruin the food now do we?" Shikamaru said as he set down the last plate of their viand.

"Awww… Shikamaru you kill joy… Oh well… Come on guys! Let's celebrate!" Naruto said as he walked to the table where lots of food was placed.

The three that were left in the living room hastily rushed to the dining room and Mikan who was dumbstruck at the feast that was set before her eyes didn't move.

"Mikan-chan, are you gonna stand there all night staring at the food or are you gonna come and eat?" Persona said teasingly.

"You expect me to just watch you guys eat? No way! Let's eat!" Mikan hurriedly grabbed a seat and sat down "Itadakimasu (14)!" Mikan exclaimed greedily grabbing as much food as she can.

Naruto, Shikamaru and Persona smiled at Mikan's actions. Realizing that Mikan would get the all of the food if they didn't get their share soon chorused "Itadakimasu!" before they got their share.

* * *

1) Military time, if it's more than 12 (i.e. 17 00) just subtract 12

2) Mental attacks, statements that make you breakdown affect you emotionally and mentally, genjutsu (i) (they play with your mind and senses that's why) and last but not the least attacks from the Yamanaka Clan. 2i) Illusionary Techniques

3) Suzaku is Kyuubi

4) jinchuuriki- human sacrifice, demon container

5) Bijuu, tailed beasts

6) I decided that the number of tails will be their demon clan

7) hanyou- half demon half human

8) Konoha aka Konohagakure- village hidden in the leaves/ Hidden Leaf Village

9) shunshin- body flicker technique/ teleportation jutsu

10) She was announced to be dead because there were too many organizations (anti-alice, the new Akatsuki (not going to elaborate on that) etc) that were chasing after her and she decided it herself because the comparison of it being beneficial to being troublesome weighted more than the latter.

11) chuunin- ninja who are qualified to watch over and guide other ninja. Chuunin have reached a level of maturity that primarily consists of leadership skills and tactical prowess. This is because the Genin who don't have the skills to become Chuunin are weeded out in testing and are typically sent on C-Rank or B-Rank missions.

12) genin- lowest level of ninja and also the ones that display the most difference in power and are typically sent either on D-Rank missions, which are almost entirely risk-free jobs of manual labor, or, very rarely, on C-Rank missions, which are a cut above that and begin to verge on real "ninja" work that have a very low possibility of risk to the ninja involved.

13) ANBU- short for Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai meaning Special Assassination and Tactical Squad; are a level below the Hokage (there's a really big leap between the two though) and are directly under the order of the Hokage (Hokage is the village leader the title is different in each hidden village)

14) Itadakimasu - said before meals

Thanks for reading, please review

-Kazemi Reikaze


	3. Chapter 2

Hello again everyone! I'm here with another chapter! Hope you guys like it! Sorry I update so slow…

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or Naruto! Or anything that would be recognized owned by any known company like Pepsi etc. or any of the songs I might be using in this fanfic…you get me right?

P.S. Sorry for the confusion in the first chapter Naruto Namikaze is the same person as Naruto Uzumaki. Sorry 'bout that. I just prefer Namikaze over Uzumaki. Teehee…

* * *

(Me talking)

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

"_Flashbacks"/ Flashbacks_

_Demon talking/conscience/mental link talk_

_Demon talking/conscience/mental link talk during flashbacks_

Change Scene

* * *

"_Mikan-chan, are you gonna stand there all night staring at the food or are you gonna come and eat?" Persona said teasingly._

"_You expect me to just watch you guys eat? No way! Let's eat!" Mikan hurriedly grabbed a seat and sat down "Itadakimasu!" Mikan exclaimed greedily grabbing as much food as she can._

_Naruto, Shikamaru and Persona smiled at Mikan's actions. Realizing that Mikan would get the all of the food if they didn't get their share soon chorused "Itadakimasu!" before they got their share._

* * *

Chapter 2:

At five in the morning we find the dysfunctional family lying down on the floor or couch. They had fallen asleep in their living room after a long night of karaoke and sake, even Mikan had a drink or two (about 6 to seven saucers).

Mikan had her first taste of sake on her first year of training. Her trainers claiming that it was for easier information gathering. Naruto said "If you wanted to get information on someone or from someone sake is one of the best solutions". You didn't even have to spill any blood- Shikamaru had added. This proved very useful to her, especially with Tsunade and Jiraiya.

Naruto was the first one to wake up, followed by Persona then Shikamaru. They decided to bring Mikan up to her room so she could have a proper rest and also so that she would not hear, just yet, what they were going to talk about.

"So how are we gonna tell her?" Naruto suddenly asked out of the blue with sad eyes.

"We were supposed to tell her yesterday but… you guys know what I mean." Shikamaru replied with a sad face.

"Well, we have to tell her as soon as possible… The academy needs her." Persona stated bluntly.

"Not only the academy Persona, but the whole world. Does she really have to go now? She still has to train! I don't think she's strong enough yet!" Not knowing what to do Naruto punched the wall leaving a whole.

"Damn it!" Naruto said deciding to vent out his frustrations on the poor wall.

Then black fire came out of nowhere signifying an arrival and there was only one person who used black fire for their sunshin. It was none other than Uchiha Itachi (1) who appeared with a scroll in his hand and a stick of pocky on his mouth.

Confused with what was happening, Itachi looked at Persona, who seemed to be the only sober person in the group at present, and gave him the what-the-heck-happened-here look.

"Mikan has to go back to the academy already… but she'll still be training… She's still going to stay here, but she has to attend classes in the academy. She's going to look for those who have potential for the... (2)" Persona bluntly said

"If that's the case can't we just go with her? Henge?" Itachi said

"Do you think we didn't try telling them that? We tried suggesting everything we can to stall it for another month or two but noooo they wanted her to report back now. Bunch of bitches…" Naruto said with anger in his eyes.

"Thankfully, the headmaster supported us but unfortunately the teachers were too anxious to see 'Mikan' (3) back, specially that blond guy who looks a bit gay. What was his name again?" Shikamaru added in

"Narumi… he was or is, I'm not so sure, Mikan's father figure…" Persona answered

"So that's it huh? But at least she's still going to stay here right? I'll be informing the others then, I'll be back tomorrow." Itachi said leaving once again via sunshin leaving the scroll on the floor as he left.

Silence engulfed them, each thinking of how they'll break it to their little sister.

"So I'm going back huh?" Mikan says letting her presence be known.

The three were shocked with the sudden sound but then were a bit relieved that they didn't have to get all nervous about how to start telling her but more saddened that she found out indirectly.

"Yeah…" Naruto says trying to find comforting words for his sister.

"So when am I gonna report back there?" Mikan said with mixed emotions in her eyes.

"Tomorrow…" They chorused.

"But you'll still be staying here!" Naruto said trying to lighten up the mood

"I know…" Mikan responds "I heard everything."

Since she didn't get any response she added- "Well then starting today Mikan Sakura is officially and truly dead. From this point on I'm living my life as Kazemi Namikaze."

Her family could only stare at her with a mix of sadness and pride after she spoke.

"Well I guess I have to prepare for tomorrow?" Mikan asked

"I-I guess so… need help?" Naruto asked Mikan but in his eyes Mikan could see that he was really just concerned about her.

"Yeah, thanks for asking. Anyway Shika-nii and aniki (4)… what are you guys gonna do?" Mikan asked

"Maybe just relax around…" Shikamaru stated getting ready to sleep on the couch

"I'll be fixing your training schedule so that it could fit in with your new schedule…" Persona stated taking a piece of paper and a ball pen out.

* * *

Mikan's room

After that Mikan went up to her room. Her room was like a special star's room but it wasn't as extravagant, it had a queen sized bed with black and blue bedding near the window, a study table to the right of the window, a closet to the left of the door, and a stereo adjacent to the closet. In the middle of the room there was a black coffee table in front of a sofa that was dark blue. Her room was painted black and blue with black wood flooring. Then from the door to the left was a comfort room with complete facilities.

"So do you plan on telling your friends the truth?" Naruto asked breaking the silence

"Maybe, maybe not… depending on the situation there… how they react to me or whatever… but I think I'm better off not telling them… Hotaru and the others are smart, if they figure it out or not I don't really care anymore… I'm Kazemi Namikaze, your sister and a demon incarnate and I'm sure proud of it." Mikan stated not really thinking her words through

Naruto, not expecting such an answer from his sister could only look at her, speechless.

"Damn imouto, you're handling it better than I would have if I were in your position. But if they do figure it out or anything I think it would be best for you to tell them the truth about everything." With that said Naruto ruffled her hair and turned around and started to prepare the things that needed to be packed.

"Uhm… nii-chan… we don't really have to pack anything. Just a few spare training and mission outfits and weapons." Mikan said scratching her head

"You sure? But what if you get sick and…" Naruto going into his mother hen mode was cut off by Mikan

"Yes I'm sure, onii-chan you're not the only one with super healing abilities you know." Mikan said sticking her tongue out at him.

They went around Mikan's room for a while, music being the only thing that kept silence from engulfing them.

After a few minutes, Naruto came to ask something that had bothered him since he found out that Mikan had to go back to the academy.

"Hey Mikan… Are you okay with you know… going back to the academy? Where you can see that…" he pauses "bastard?" Naruto asked concerned of his imouto

"Yeah… Since he won't be able to recognize me everything will be fine. Besides, I've been long over that" Mikan said but at the back of her mind she wasn't so sure.'

"Its better this way… and I want to find someone new for me…" Mikan said blushing, her mind thinking of a certain wild husky jinchuuriki (5).

Naruto smiled at this statement.

"Are you sure this is all you need to bring?" Naruto asked starting on his mother-hen mode again.

"Hai, Hai, _kaa-san_, besides you've forgotten that I'll still be staying here." Mikan said knowing that her (adoptive) family would definitely not like her staying somewhere where they were unsure if she was being taken care of properly.

"Oh, right." Naruto said scratching the back of his head.

"Oh… I forgot to tell you… When you get to the school go the principal's office and you'll meet your homeroom teacher there and you'll get your uniform, well you're not required to wear the uniform so I think it's kind of useless that they give you it but anyway…" he pauses to breathe in "you're gonna be a special star, your room will be on the top floor of the middle school dorm. You'll be assigned to the DA class. However Persona won't be the adviser, for now, because it would get suspicious if the two of you would be openly talking to each other in those conditions. The headmaster told the teachers that he's on a long term mission and would probably be back in his position before or by the end of the school year. But anyway, I know you'll like his substitutes." Naruto said breathing in again

"Hmm… Do you mean…?" Mikan asked

"Yeap… Those two… Demon and Angel… They'll be the temporary advisers while Persona will be 'away'… So I think the three of you would get along fine…" Naruto stated

"Of course we would! I'm so gonna have fun in the DA class when I get there!" Mikan said smiling evilly

"Now, now Mikan… Don't have too much fun there… Or you might not have any classmates anymore…" Naruto said smiling evilly "but if you need any help with anything… I mean anything you could just tell me… okay?"

They both stared at each other for a minute or two before laughing out loud.

"Haaa… That was fun… So I guess we gotta make the two their food huh?" Mikan asked

"I guess so… I'll do it… you could just rest… but tomorrow when you get back you have to cook us a feast!" Naruto stated slipping out of the door leaving Mikan in her room.

* * *

Downstairs

"So did you tell her?" Persona asked still scribbling down on a piece of paper

"Yeah… She took it well…" Naruto said plopping the ingredients to the food he was cooking. But couldn't help but feel unsure so he added, "At least I hope she did, you know that mask of hers, it's worse than mine was."

"Troublesome…" He pauses to yawn "You think she'll come down for lunch… or dinner?" Shikamaru said worried about Mikan and her mask. 'Troublesome girl, she's even more troublesome than Naruto.' He thought

"I don't think so… Just let her be… She's going to have a big day tomorrow…" Naruto said stirring the soup but worry was evident on his face.

* * *

Midnight

Mikan awoke, startled and with wet hair and beddings… Why? Persona just poured a bucket of ice-cold water on her.

"What the fuck did you do that for aniki?!" Mikan said mad that her aniki who poured a bucket of _ice cold_ water on her.

"To wake you up…" Persona monotonously said

"You…you... grr..." Mikan said with her left eyebrow twitching as she glared at Persona with a bit of killer intent (KI) rolling off her.

"Persona, you could have just shaken her to wake her up you know?" Naruto said leaning on the doorframe

"Yeah!" Mikan half shouted

"But she looks so cute when she's mad…" Persona teased

"Sigh... I'm awake now… So could someone please tell me why in the world did you wake me up at this hour?!" Mikan said getting up from her bed

"Well… We thought that since you've been sleeping all day… Why not wake her up now so she can do the training she missed while she was sleeping and so that she can prepare for her first day of school…" Naruto said smiling at Mikan.

"Oh no… _shit!_ Not_ that_ smile!" Mikan said knowing Naruto's smile meant only one thing. _Torture…_

They then dragged her out of her room and brought her outside where it was dark, very dark.

* * *

Outside the House

When they reached the lawn, Mikan was suddenly released, because the people holding her suddenly disappeared, which made her fall on her back

"Okay what the hell is happening?!" Mikan said activating her fire alice that caused torches around her to light up that revealed.

"Surprise!" said the crowd that consisted of people who have taught her what she knew. People from the former rookie 9 and their teachers, the two sannin and everyone else.

"Wow! What are all you guys doing here?!" Mikan said shocked but happy

"We came to give you party for finishing the supposed to be five year training course in just two years!" The group chorused

"Thank you guys so much!" Mikan said smiling widely

And with that the party started, and by 4 am they finished with all the guests sleeping inside the house; on the floor, couch, counter top, or where ever they could find a spot to sleep.

* * *

Inside Mikan's Room

The family of four was inside Mikan's room taking a nap. However, Mikan who couldn't sleep decided to just take a bath and change to her usual outfit, but instead of her usual top, she wore a long-sleeved mesh shirt under a crimson shirt that was similar to her tube top, cut half way through her stomach. She wore her black trench coat over her outfit and tied her hair in the usual ponytail and she was done.

She sat on her sofa and waited for the others to wake up. She didn't have to wait long because everyone was starting to wake up already. After an hour or so of waiting all the guests left and wished Mikan a good time at school while others said that they'll be seeing her later.

As they fixed the room and prepared Mikan's things, Mikan felt a void of emotions dawn upon her. She felt excited, but she felt sad and… nervous? She wondered to herself why she was nervous but she just couldn't seem to find the answer.

At 06 00, they were all ready to report to the academy once again.

"Well shall we go?" Persona asked as he stood in front of the door facing the three.

In response the three nodded and they all proceeded outside where a black limousine was waiting for them.

"Why the limousine?" Mikan asked them. Though she had an IQ of a genius already, she was still a tad bit dense.

"It's so that we would make an impression that you had come from afar and not just from the school's backyard" Persona said explaining patiently

"Ah… okay." Mikan said and with that they proceeded inside the limousine that was teleported to a point about 500 kilometers (6) from the academy gates. They were surprised to see that the head master was seated right in front of them when they had not seen him when they entered.

"I'm sorry if I startled you, I just teleported here… anyway… Mikan, or should I say Kazemi, based on what your mentors reported, you will be ranked as a Special Star and will be assigned to the Dangerous Ability Class. And you'll be assigned to the same class section as before only in the middle school division."

"The first part I know, but why the heck should I have to be with them again?" Mikan asked patiently but it was obvious that she was irritated.

"I'm sorry Mikan but it's the only section that's open." The headmaster responded "Well… I'll tell you the rest later, they might be looking for me if I stay for too long… See you!" and he teleported back to his office.

* * *

Headmasters Office

Just when Kaito (the headmaster) teleported back to his office, someone knocked on his door. 'Talk about luck.'

"Come in." He announced.

The door opened and revealed two people, a man and a woman. The man was six-foot six flat, had black, slightly long, wind-blown hair, and deep, dark eyes. A white-gold hoop earring with a black crystal dangled from his pierced left ear, and a ring made of white gold adorn his left middle finger. They also detected a length of white-gold chain wrapped around his right wrist. He wore an all black outfit that defined his chiseled features that could rival any work of art and a tanned-olive complexion. This man's was name Demon Kimura. The woman however, had mesmerizing grayish blue-green eyes, as if nature couldn't deicide on which color to give her. Her hair was made up of different shades of blond and red highlights, making it look like a flame. She wore a similar outfit to the man only it was white and she wore a black trench coat. Her name was Angel Kimura. (7)

"Morning Kaito-san, so do you have a job for us or did you call us for tea?" Angel said with a small smile on her face.

"I've got a job for the both of you, I want the both of you to handle the Dangerous class in place of Persona because he currently is training one of our students" Kaito said drinking his green tea

"Ah... you mean Mi-chan… okay… oh and sir, is it okay if we train her a bit too?" Angel asked

"Well of course, but you must ask permission from her other trainers first." Said Kaito to the two

"We've already asked and it was okay with them" Angel said to Kaito proceeding to the door. "Oh and one more thing, I'd just like to tell you that a son of a friend of yours would be entering the academy, his name is Ryosuke Seshina (8). Does his name ring any bell?"

"Yeah… A loud one at that, thank you Angel. The both of you may go now, you two and stay wherever you like."

"We already made arrangements with Naruto and the rest. Well see you when we see you (9)." After their goodbyes they disappeared.

* * *

Front of Middle School Dormitory

Mikan, Naruto and Shikamaru stood in front of the Academy's Middle School Dormitory. Persona stayed inside the limousine because he had to meet Demon and Angel who were waiting for him at the Northern Forest at the moment.

The dormitory looked about the same as the elementary dormitory only it was slightly bigger. The dormitory consisted of four floors, the top star rooms were at the top floor, and the rest follows. It was class hours at that moment so there wasn't anyone in there except the robots that took care of the building. This thought eased Mikan.

"Want us to help you fix up your room?" Naruto suggested.

"Okay, then you guys could leave already. 'Cuz if I knew you guys you'd be fussing over everything, especially you nii-chan" Mikan said knowing the two were guilty of charged and with that they went up to the top floor.

Minatsu the robot nanny of the top floor gave Mikan the keys and let them pass. The room was similar with her room at the cottage, only bigger. It had a flat screen television, complete stereo set. A laptop on a mahogany desk and all the other luxury gadgets, but what surprised Mikan the most was the electric guitar complete with amplifier and an acoustic guitar. Next the two guitars was a grand piano that had a music score on the seat. Mikan walked up to these and saw that there was a letter stuck to the neck of the electric guitar. In the letter it said:

_Welcome back! We'll see you soon, hope that you'll love it here again…hope you like your new room._

_-Kaito and the Faculty_

"I'm so going to love this room!" Mikan screamed as she inspected the room

"Well I hope you'll still be coming to the cottage from time to time" Naruto said inspecting the room as well

"Of course I am going there! I would never abandon that place you know!" Mikan said

"Well, you should start unpacking already… Need help?" Shikamaru said

"Oh yeah… Help would be great! Then after, if we finish early we could go to central town!" Mikan said enthusiastically grabbing her things and unpacking them.

And so, they started unpacking Mikan's things. With Shadow clones here and there, they managed to finish in just one hour.

"Let's go to Central Town already!" Mikan said

"Eh… Mikan can't we just go tomorrow? I'm beat…" Naruto said

"Yeah…" Shikamaru said yawning.

"But… But…!" Mikan said pouting

"Mentally beat from all the shadow clones. Tomorrow we'll go I promise..." Naruto said as he drifted off to sleep on the couch followed by Shikamaru on the floor.

"Have a nice rest guys… -yawn- tomorrow…" Mikan said falling asleep on Shikamaru's tummy with a smile on her face.

* * *

1) Itachi's a good guy here... and no he will not die (:

2) I purposely did that cuz i'm not really sure what big catastrophe i'm going to ensue or whatever... or i may know :P

3) Naruto is reffering to the 'old' Mikan who was a little bit more childish but mature and less serious (before the training) than the 'new' Mikan who was more mature and serious about things (after/during the training)

4) aniki- big brother she's referring to Persona when she uses this term

5) You'll see who i mean in the next chapter... or the next after that. Hahaha

6) Is 500 km far? lol or how many minutes does it take to travel 500 km? You know... normal speed

7) Demon and Angel don't belong to me. They are rightfully owned by archdemonlord, I just borrowed them... with permission of course.

8) an OC I'm not gonna elaborate on how his parents are connected to the headmaster so i'm gonna leave it at just that... his parents are friends of the headmaster ^^ he'll be coming up soon a little teaser though he's the same person as note number 5 xD

9) Ocean's Eleven.. or something.. copyright to that.. not mine.. it just sounds so cool lol couldn't resist

I'm sorry it took me so long to update! Well I hope you liked this one! And again I'm very, very sorry for the very late update!


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice or Naruto… Also… I also do not own Demon and Angel they belong to archdemonlord… Anything familiar which are owned by any known company I do not own… well you guys get the point…

(Me talking)

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

'_Telepathic talking'_

"_Flashbacks"/ Flashbacks_

_Conscience/Inner self/ Telepathic talking in flashback_ (whatever you'd like to call it)

_Conscience/Inner self/ Telepathic talking in flashback_

Change Scene

Chapter 3

* * *

Four o'clock in the morning we see a Mikan aka Kazemi lying down comfortably on her bed in a special star room in the middle school dormitory. As seconds passed by she started to stir and eventually woke up. Her deep blue eyes started to open and eventually she arose rubbing her eyes to remove the sleepiness. After a few minutes of sitting down on her bed, her mind started to process that there was something missing, and eventually realization hit her.

"Eh? I fell asleep… I remember nii-chan, Shika-nii-chan being here…" Mikan said to herself groggily. She looked around her room and found a note beside her lampshade seated on top of a dark mahogany bedside table.

She decided to get out of her bed and took the note reading it as she prepared her bath.

* * *

_Morning sleepy head, by the time you're reading this most probably it'd be early in the morning. We woke up at about 6 in the evening and went back to the cottage after we put you to bed. You'll find some food in the fridge I cooked before we left. Well, we'll see you later after your class then? We've got a date remember? In central town, we'll fetch you in front of the school later; so don't wear your uniform! Okay? Ja ne…_

_-Naruto_

* * *

"What time is it anyway?" She managed to say through her yawn as she peeked at her clock "It's only four, oh well," She yawns once more "might as well get this over with…"

Mikan stood up as she burned the letter and started her bath. She changed into one of her training outfits that consisted of black shorts with two back pockets, and a white shirt that had black lining on either side. She took her kunai pouch and secured it around her waist. And so she proceeded out of the dormitory and started her lap around the academy.

As she ran the perimeter of the academy she managed to see the slight changes the academy has taken. The elementary and preparatory dorms were now merged into a five-story building. It was because there had been fewer recruits lately. She knew this because she was the one who was requested to bring the new recruits who were just six and below. However, if it were the older elementary students like her age when she first entered. She would be accompanied by Persona.

She managed to finish the lap around the academy in an hour and five minutes. Then took a bath once more and prepared her breakfast which consisted of fruits, meat and a glass of milk or orange juice.

She changed into her usual outfit only she had her katana sealed into a scroll, which she put inside her pouch, and hid her guns at the thighs of her two legs one hiding each. Since it was still early and class started at 07 30 or most often at 8 she decided to look around her room.

She found out that her room was bigger than it seemed. Inside there was a small dojo, a study room, a mini library and even a small recording booth. As she looked around she found that there were things hidden in certain places. An example was the black communicator-navigator-wrist watch (1) that was hidden inside the desk where her computer was. There was also the scarf that had a fiery design on it being red on opposite sides that faded into the lighter flame colors. She found it by the fireplace. The last two things she found were found inside a box beside a picture she had of Misaki and Tsubasa her two senpais who she considered as family before she met Naruto and Shikamaru. Inside the box were two medium-sized teddy bears. One had black fur that had a red star under its eye and the other had earthy brown fur.

She figured that these were things that her friends wanted to send to her for her birthday, which was almost three months ago while she was away but since the teachers never told them where exactly she was going then they couldn't send it. Also, on the second month of her training, when the academy finally allowed her to make contact with her friends, she requested that the messages that she wanted to give them were to be delivered by Persona or at rare occasions herself. However, when it was receiving messages from her friends it was Persona and Persona only who got the messages for Mikan because they didn't want to risk Mikan revealing herself even with a microscopic clue.

As she looked at the gifts, she wondered on the reasons why they were placed where they were. Then, it came to her like it was almost the most obvious thing in the world. It was placed where the person was most inclined the most. Like Hotaru and her technology. So all in all she figured who gave what, Hotaru gave the watch, and Misaki and Tsubasa gave the teddy bears. She can't figure who gave the scarf though, at first she thought that it was that arrogant little bastard but that was definitely out of the question. The only person who she could think of, thought this person she hadn't seen in almost 5 years. She met him 2 months before Hotaru left the village and they instantly became best friends. She didn't get the chance to say goodbye to him before she went to follow Hotaru because she felt that it was just wrong.

After sealing the gifts in a scroll, she decided to walk to the school seeing that it was only 6 and the school wasn't that far away and that the Northern Forest was just near by, she decided to drop by the sakura tree then just sunshin to the faculty room.

Deciding to avoid the early birds, she used 10 percent of her actual speed and sailed across the halls and out of the dormitory. She ran pass the trees and took in the small changes, which were only new trees, chairs and all the other things. The academy was probably the most advanced in technology in Japan, especially that Hotaru was here who was probably responsible for part of Japan's technology. But as she run through the forest a gripping hand constricts her heart.

Mikan didn't know why but with every step she takes the harder it seemed for her to breath. With every step she came closer to the cherry blossom tree, she knew she might see the bastard there once she arrived or maybe she wouldn't. She would just have to wait and see.

* * *

Under the cherry blossom tree

Mikan reached the tree and she finally could breathe normally. The tree as beautiful as it always was stood there with nature's pride standing tall above her head, with branches sturdy yet its flowers are fragile. It kind of reminded her of herself: she was one of the most powerful, but she was also a woman who had a fragile heart. Even with the many times she had seen the tree it still takes her breath away. As she gazed at the tree, she didn't notice the raven-blue haired boy that was nearing.

"Oi little girl! What are you doing there? This is MY area…" Natsume said

In reflex Mikan turned around and grabbed Natsume's arm and drove him to the ground with her foot securing his weight to the ground and his left arm getting stretched like taffy.

"Gomen neko-san, but I didn't see any indication that this was a private area. And next time, please do not do sudden actions like that or the consequence might be worse than this... I'll be going then…" Mikan stated and disappeared in a swirl of cherry blossom petals and was transported to the faculty room.

* * *

Faculty room

'That was lucky. Thank you sensei for teaching me sunshin' Mikan thought as she sat on the sofa of the faculty office.

Five minutes later, Narumi, who mistook her for Mikan instead of Kazemi at first glance, greeted Mikan.

In the academy only Kaito and the higher ups with Persona knew Mikan's return to the academy for the mission. What the faculty knew was that Mikan was still training somewhere in the secluded area of the academy and won't be coming back for a long time. They also didn't know of her little costume of mini Naruto.

"Namikaze-sama, I believe that Kaito-sama has already told you the details of your stay here. Then that leaves my name and your introduction to the class. My name is Narumi. You may call me however you want. Please follow me." Narumi said to Mikan.

They walked silently to the classroom whose noise could be heard from outside the faculty room. When Narumi knocked on the door, the class immediately shuffled back to their seats and remained quiet. You could tell by the stampede of their feet and the eventual knocking down of the chairs.

Narumi went in first and told the class the announcements and announced that they had a new classmate for the last part. 'Oh wow, save the best for last how exiting. Eesh.'

"Namikaze-sama, please come in and introduce yourself." Narumi said

Mikan walked in, and all eyes were on her she could already tell that all the guys were drooling at her and the girls either had a look of awe or were sending lowly glares at her. She faced the class and studied them; everyone was still there and was still the same. There weren't any new faces so most likely this act was going to be easy to do.

As she was studying the class the back door was slammed and in came the "king". He walked up to his seat and put up his feet on top of his desk.

"Now Namikaze-sama, please introduce yourself."

"Alright… The name's Namikaze Kazemi, mess with my name and there would be hell to pay. I come from the Village Hidden in the Leaves, also known as Konohagakure more known as Konoha. Although I doubt that any of you know about that. I like training with my family though a bit dysfunctional, books, weapons and the rest you wouldn't want to know. I dislike bastards who break their promises," sends a glare to Natsume and unconsciously leak out some killer intent (KI) "and bitches, most of all I dislike people who look down on other people because they think their all high and mighty. My hobbies, you guys couldn't even start to understand what my hobbies are… Oh and one more thing, don't even try to mess with me or anyone that is and will be related to me, 'cuz I'll make sure that when I'm done with you you'd be in the hospital for at least one month got that?" Mikan stated, "introducing" herself.

Mikan's introduction definitely made all of them not want to be in her bad side and made most of them want to piss right on the spot. Even Narumi was starting to sweat.

"Ehem, thank you Namikaze-sama. Please seat where ever you want." Narumi said gulping

"Hn…" Mikan responded 'Oh this is going to be so fun' Mikan thought to herself as she proceeded to the very back seat behind Natsume that was made by her chakra so that only she or someone she would like to sit with her could sit there, any one else would be "ejected" from the seat.

She sat down on the chakra made seat that made everyone wonder where it came from. Then after settling down, she used her teleporting alice to teleport her iPod.

"Okay, are there any questions?" Narumi asked

"Ne, sensei, what's her star rank and her alice?" Sumire asked

"And what's her ability class?" Another curious student asked

"May I tell them Namikaze-sama?" Narumi asked. By this time the whole class B was already shocked and curious as to why their teacher had addressed the new girl as "sama" for four times already. It was just not normal for Narumi to be "normal" like this. Even without Mikan in the academy he wouldn't be this… normal?

"Hmmm… Just my star rank and ability class though… They'll have to find out what my alice is though." Mikan pauses for a while "Though I wouldn't call it an alice myself. But for the sake of understanding I'd call it an alice."

"Okay… I'll just let you explain the difference of the academy from where you came from. Everyone Namikaze-sama is a special star and she is assigned to the Dangerous Ability Class who by the way will be having new teachers I don't know who though." Narumi said as he started to step out of the room

"And also, please don't do anything reckless during your free time? Well I shall take my leave now; the faculty still has a meeting…" takes another step closer to the door "Oh! I almost forgot! You'll have another new classmate; he'll be coming in later this afternoon. Anyway, Ja ne!" Narumi said, and with that he made his grand exit by doing a ballerina spin.

Mikan just sat there looking out the window as she listened to her iPod that was playing Don't You Know Who I Think I am by Fall Out Boy, when she felt someone nearing her.

"Konnichiwa Namikaze…" the person paused to think of what title he should address her "sama"

"Hn… I'm not particular with greetings… and who might you be?" Mikan said not looking at Yuu

"Tobita Yuu, I'm the male class representative of the class. Imai-san over there is the female class representative. She's the one with the screwdriver and such. Her name is Imai Hotaru"

"Ah… Okay… I figured much. So what is it that you wanted to ask me?" Mikan said looking at Yuu.

'She doesn't seem so bad' Yuu thought

"Don't get easily deceived Tobita-san…" Mikan suddenly said out of the blue.

"Huh? So you have a mind reading alice?" Yuu said

"Hmm…? No… Your eyes just said it… anyway... what is it that you wanted to ask me? With my speech awhile back I don't really think you'd be so daring to come up here for no reason…" Mikan said

"Oh yeah… Of course, as the class representative, I'm more than happy to welcome you to the class. Would you like to tour the academy? I'll escort you around." Yuu said kindly

"Thank you for the offer but no thanks. I've already helped myself with the tour of the academy. I was quite restless when I came here at 12 midnight so I helped myself and looked around the academy. It's big but my home town's bigger, but the area's fine, a lap or two around it would be great building up stamina" Mikan said with a small smile on her face which faded as she looked up at Yuu

'I don't know if that smile was a good thing or a bad thing…' thought Yuu and the other eavesdroppers thought of her last sentence thinking if she was actually serious about running the academy's perimeter

"Ehem… Uh…Very well then, I'll be waiting for your talk about your home town Namikaze-sama…" Yuu said smiling at Mikan with a sweat drop at the back of his head.

Mikan once again went back to her music. 'Yuu is the same as always. If I were to say myself I'm the only one who has changed.'

After 10 minutes of peace, Mikan was once again, disturbed by none other than the Natsume-Ruka Fan Club.

'For Pete's sake! Even after two years these girls are still at it? How stupid. Well at least I only have to handle one bitch everyday. I'm glad that the banshee's in a different class' Mikan thought as she tried her best not to cut the bitches up with her favorite techniques "What is it? I could feel your footsteps as if there was an earthquake, what kind of feet do you have, steel feet?" Mikan said not even looking at the group of girls

This caused Koko and his group to chuckle, even some of Sumire's girl's was trying to suppress their giggles.

"Okay blondie, I'll only say this once, don't you come near MY Natsume-kun or else you'll be sorry." Sumire said as she tried her best to sound mean and look like she could actually do what she was saying herself.

"Oh boohoo I'm so scared please get my mommy" Mikan mockingly said "Alright here Permy, here's the thing, are you deaf or something? I already told you that I don't like bitches like you and also, I don't give a damn on what you say and I doubt you could even do what you said by yourself you'd need all your pawns to do the dirty work for you, so don't come here unless you can actually do the things you say to me alright? So buzz away now? Permy should go bye bye," Mikan said waving Sumire and her group off.

Mikan's action caused Sumire to seethe as she turned away stomping.

"You're doing pretty well for a newbie." Natsume said eyeing Mikan suspiciously as he stood at the aisle

"Why thank you, but I doubt you even know who I am…" Mikan said moving behind Natsume in a blink of an eye. "Do you know who I am? _Kuro Neko_" Mikan whispered the last two words to Natsume's ears.

Natsume attempted to hit Mikan but failed miserably. She was once again seated on her chair.

'Who the fuck is this girl?' Natsume said

"Awww, Neko-san has already forgotten me." Mikan says as she sits down once again "If you want to fight me then say it already Black Cat. I'm ready for whatever you throw at me. And the only advantage you'll have with a fight is that you'll find out who I am and what I am known for" Mikan said not even looking at Natsume for she was busy scanning for a nice song that matched the battle lust she was having right now.

"Fine then little girl, go in front of the Northern Forest after the new student comes in. You might want to get some help from the new guy." Natsume said proudly not bothering to pause and think of what he just said

"Watch your words Neko-san, it might just turn around" Mikan said standing up going out of the class room and when she was out the lunch bell rang.

* * *

Cafeteria

Mikan was sitting down at the table in the corner, which was the special star table. It was a mahogany rectangular table with matching dining seats and prepared three course dining materials. Only special star students were allowed in the area and the students who were invited by the special star student. Mikan sat there alone silently eating her food amidst ignoring the throng of hormone enraged teenager boys outside the special star area. Finishing her main course, Emi, the robot waitress, gave her a menu of desserts specially made for her. She scanned the menu when she saw her favorite dessert she instantly asked for it.

"Emi, I'd like a blue berry cheesecake please, and could you get me milk with that? Thanks." Mikan said smiling at the robot

"Very well, Namikaze-sama. I'll be right back." Emi said

Then when Emi left, Mikan's personal hologram butler appeared.

"What is it Joe?" Mikan said

"Well Namikaze-sama, there is another special star student that would like to enter the area and he has company. Is it okay if they sat with you?" Joe, the hologram butler said

'Must be Natsume and the rest…' "It's okay; I'll be having my desert already anyway so I'll be leaving soon. Let them in. Oh and Joe, I already told you call me Kazemi" Mikan said

"Very well… Nami… Kazemi-san" Joe said then he disappeared. And just when Joe disappeared Emi came with her dessert and milk.

"Arigatou Emi-san" Mikan said as she started to eat her cake.

As Mikan ate her cake, Natsume who was forced by Hotaru to "invite" them to the special star dining area sat down to his designated place, which was beside Mikan.

"Sit down and get comfy, I'll be leaving soon anyway so just ignore me… You won't even notice I've left" Mikan said between eating her cake

With Mikan's statement, the gang was just dead silent not wanting to offend the girl.

"Okay then… uh... thanks…" Koko said getting a major migraine from trying to read Mikan's mind

"Don't let first impressions get the best of you, not all of them are right. Anyway, don't let me spoil your lunch. Oh yeah, the one's who's got the mind reading alice, don't bother reading my mind you'd just end with a major migraine" Mikan said finishing her cake and milk.

"I'll remember that Namikaze-sama…" Koko said rubbing his temples

"Hn… Emi-san, can I have a bar of Hershey's Milk chocolate? Thanks." Mikan said

By now everyone was looking at her with strange looks.

"What? I've had my dessert already so what? Chocolate is always the best, and so is pocky and ramen. Anyway… I'll be seeing you later Neko-san. Ja ne minna-san" Mikan said as she got her chocolate bar from Emi walked backwards and disappeared in a swirl of wind. And what was left was a lone sakura petal.

"She has got to teach me that trick! Oww… My head…" Koko said rubbing his temples once again as his head started to ache once again.

"That's what you get for talking so loud baka…" Natsume said. His statement was followed by laughter.

'That girl, she's one big puzzle I have to solve' Natsume thought to himself as he cut up his steak.

* * *

Northern Forest

Mikan was stretching in front of the forest, she decided to drop by and see the condition of the area.

The terrain was relatively flat with a few depressions and bumps here and there. The part nearer the forest was grazed with different shrubs and bushes. Then there were some fallen tree trunks here and there. She also spotted benches where it was farther from the forest. The area was practically already prepared for a no-alice using fight. There was also a fountain about 5 and a-half meters away from where she was standing. So basically she could already see what things she could use to her advantage. Then 2 minutes later of studying the area she sunshined back to the class room to her seat.

* * *

Middle School Class B Classroom

Everyone was already seated and was waiting for the other new student. They were all chatting about with how it wasn't so often these days that the academy had new comers and of course the girls were wondering with how the guy will look like.

Everything turned silent when the door opened to reveal Mr. Misaki, which caused two girls to squeal softly.

"Good afternoon everyone, I'm here in proxy for you adviser to introduce to you your new classmate. Be nice to him. Come in Seshina-san" Mr. Misaki said

The name made Mikan's head lift up like a whip when she heard it. She eyed the door for the poor man prey.

Everyone anticipated the entry of the new student. After a few seconds, a boy with jet-black hair with red streaks and deep blue cat eyes came in.

"Seshina Ryosuke you fucking ass what the heck are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Suna helping Gaara-san?" Mikan shouted pointing an accusing finger at the new guy now known as Seshina Ryosuke. She then instantly sent him a telepathic video of what had happened and what name he should call her.

'_I'll just tell you later, why couldn't you have done this instead of shouting that sentence?' _Ryosuke responded

'_I needed to do that cuz its part of the plan… oh… act all sweet and stuff like that' _Mikan said

'_Whatever you say… Just tell me what the heck you're planning later.'_

"Ehem… Sorry to interrupt the contest but we still need to introduce him to the class Kazemi-san" Mr. Misaki interrupted

"Whatever…." Mikan said glaring at Ryosuke who just did an I'm-innocent pose

"Sorry about that, as Kazemi-chan said" He eyes Mikan for any signal "I am Seshina Ryosuke; I come from the Village Hidden in the Leaves. And all the rest about me you'd have to find out for yourselves. And also, I am not a fucking ass"

"Thank you Seshina-san, please take a seat where ever you want" Mr. Misaki said with a sweat drop at the back of his head

"Oh yes, Seshina-san and Namikaze-sama, since you two don't have partners yet, you'll be assigned to each other. I assume that Namikaze-sama already knows her way around the academy, so could Namikaze-sama tour Seshina-san around the academy tomorrow." Mr. Misaki said, after doing so he left

"Well, Ryo-kun, can you be a referee for few minutes? Neko-teme over there wants a fight. Don't worry about healing any injuries though We'll be done in 5 minutes flat." Mikan said smiling at Ryosuke who was now sitting beside her.

"I'm betting you'll finish in 5 minutes and 30 seconds flat." Ryosuke said looking at Mikan grinning while he looked at what changes she's been through since the last time he saw her.

'Damn she's so hot, she's even got more curves than before!' Ryosuke thought as dirty thoughts clouded his mind 'No Ryosuke bad… Mikan's your best friend… but man she's so hot'

Lust clouded his eyes the more he looked at Mikan. Then he went near her ear whispering "You look so beautiful right now"

Mikan too whispered back "Thank you, you're looking good as well Ryo-kun… but what about the bet you just made?" This caused Ryosuke disappointment but he just let it go.

"Hmm… If you win I'll have to treat you to an amusement park. Then if I win you…" Ryosuke says trailing off to a whisper.

"What the fuck?" Mikan suddenly said when Ryosuke finished whispering his part of the deal "You serious?"

"Hell yeah…" Ryosuke said

"Fine! But first we have to battle. You're all gonna come to watch the fight. But as you already know, this is my fight so don't get in my way." Mikan said teleporting the whole class to where the fighting area was.

The class was of course shocked when they suddenly found themselves outside.

"I just thought you'd like to watch the show…" Mikan said stretching her muscles

"You shouldn't have done that Namikaze; you'll just be put to shame…" Natsume said stretching

"Don't get cocky now I might not go easy on you…" Mikan said as she started to slip into her fighting stance

"Well you might be a girl but I definitely won't go easy on you…" Natsume said slipping to his own fighting stance as well

"Okay you two, the rules are no using of alices. It's just a pure head on physical fight. No weapons allowed either. Ready? Start!" Ryosuke said bringing down the improvised flag, which was a white handkerchief.

The whole class was anticipating the first attack but neither of the two was moving.

"Afraid of hitting a girl Neko-san, or are you forfeiting?" Mikan said as she started to move to her left making Natsume move to his right.

This action made the whole class excited. This hasn't happened in a long time since there weren't any new students.

"Why don't you deliver the first blow then Namikaze?" Natsume said as he eyed Mikan

"It's not normal for me to deliver the first blow…" Mikan said as she eyed Natsume's steps

"I can see you've got a nice set of footwork there… Though I think you won't last very long… You aren't known for your stamina…" Mikan said trying to make Natsume deliver the first blow because of his anger

"Your stance… It's not a known one is it? I can remember that stance being done by someone… And according to the records… There is only one person who can do the technique flawlessly… And that would be you… Black Wolf…" Natsume said preparing himself for his attack

"Very nice deducing skill's Neko-san… but we must start this fight already so that our audience will be entertained.

"Yes… We should start…" Natsume said as he stepped forward and started to bring up his right leg to hit Mikan in the face.

Mikan just stood there with her eyes closed waiting for Natsume to come closer.

_Mikan… Your Hoshingan has already activated, would you like me to remove the genjutsu? Or will you let this fight go as it is right now?_

'I'm fine without it… I'll see what it looks like later on after my date with my family…'

_Very well_

And just as Mikan finished talking to Natsuki, Natsume was about to kick Mikan in the face already but then, with 44 percent of her speed Mikan disappeared causing Natsume's kick to stop a mid air.

'What the fuck! She's fast…' Natsume though thinking of where she might attack him

"I told you don't get cocky Neko-san…" Mikan said whispering behind Natsume to his ear

Natsume's eyes widened and attempted to deliver a punch to Mikan's gut.

"Tsk tsk… Think before you act Neko-san…" Mikan said 4 feet away from Natsume

"Well let me show you the basics…" Mikan said slipping into a stance. She was standing up right with her right foot behind her left her hands were in a similar position. "This is one of the most basic stances Neko-san… I'm going to be easy on you…"

With that said Mikan started to take fast steps towards Natsume. Her hands still in position, she started to bring down her hands and bring them near her body. As she started to come nearer, she prepared her right leg. Natsume saw this and started to prepare to block her attack. And as Mikan brought her leg up to hit him, she used Natsume's shoulder for support and pulled her body up using her left leg to kick Natsume in the stomach, flipped and put him into submission.

"And stop… Awww man… I lose the bet… Five minutes flat…" Ryosuke said

"I hope to fight you again Neko-san…" Mikan said standing up offering her hand to help Natsume stand up.

"Tsk…" Natsume just responded and stood up on his own

"I was just trying to be friendly… Let's just hope we'd be on friendlier conditions the next time we fight…" Mikan said giving Natsume a smile.

* * *

Natsume's Point of View

Her smile… there was something nostalgic about her smile… I… I just can't remember. Her smile just seems so different from how she is. It's as if she isn't really what she seems to be.

I notice that I was staring at her and that she was wondering why I was staring at her.

"What are you looking at?" She says to me

"Nothing…" I respond walking out of the scene.

She's a damned jigsaw puzzle that I want to put together. There's just something about her that makes me drawn to her. Damn you Namikaze…

* * *

Author's Point of View

'You just never learn you damn bastard…' Mikan thought with a small smile on her face as she remembered the happy times she had with Natsume. 'I miss the those times'

'_Awww…Mi-chan misses her ex…'_ Ryosuke teased with a grin on his face

'_I swear Ryosuke one of these days you're going to get your ass kicked big time if you don't shut up… and also… that bastard and I never became an item'_ Mikan retaliated glaring at Ryosuke

"Ehem… Hey Ryosuke… How's it going?"

"Onii-chan I thought we're going to meet later on?" Mikan said

"Well imouto, I heard from Kaito-san that you have free time and I just happened to stumble here when I was looking for you and I got to watch the fight…" Naruto said

"You shouldn't have gone easy on him, that guy's like Uchiha-teme. He's got a big rod stuck up is butt… but anyway it's too troublesome…" Shikamaru said

"Sugoi (Amazing) Shika-nii actually said something that long… Hmmm… Actually you haven't been acting lazy lately…" Mikan said

"Haaaii... Troublesome woman…" Shikamaru said

"Hahaha! I knew it was too good to be true!" Mikan said laughing followed by the two

"And can someone please tell me why we are here in the middle. And are being stared at by various people?" Ryosuke said

"Oh… Right…" The group said looking around at the audience

'Okay… Is she a nice person or a scary person?' Thought the class

"Okay you maggots get out of here! There's nothing to see!" Mikan said shooing them out

'Okay… nice with her family but scary outside' thought some of the more intellectual ones

"So let's go now? I've been itching to go to Central Town… Come on!" Mikan said as she started to move back toward the direction of the bus stop

"Hey! Wait up! Let's race! Last one there has to treat everyone to dinner!" Naruto said

"Fine by me…is everyone ready?" Mikan said getting into running position

"Hell yeah!" Ryosuke shouted

"In three, two, one… GO!" Mikan signaled and they started to sprint towards the bus stop.

It was a sight to see the four run, especially when you see Shikamaru Nara, the laziest person in Konoha, running and actually putting some effort in running.

"Shika-nii you're actually running!" Mikan shouted as she continued to run

"Well it may be troublesome but I don't want to pay." Shikamaru responded as he sped up.

And as they ran towards the bus stop, a curious group was "secretly" following them.

When they finally reached the bus stop it ended up in a tie.

"That sucks…" Ryosuke said catching his breath

"Oh well… Oh yeah… Where is aniki?" Mikan inquired finally noticing the absence of the black clad man.

"Hmm… Oh yeah… I almost forgot… He's having a meeting with Kaito-san he said he'll follow later…" Naruto said putting her finger on her chin

There was a moment of silence.

"You guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Mikan said mischievously

"Persona-san will be the one to pay since none of us came in last?" Ryosuke said

"Yeah…" they chorused

"Well then that's decided! Oh here comes the bus!" Mikan said as the bus approached them

'_Mi-chan… we have some company…'_ Naruto telepathically said using the bond of Suzaku and Natsuki to talk to Mikan through their minds

'_I know nii-chan… Just let them be… and be careful with my name… remember… I'm Kazemi Namikaze right now…'_ Mikan warned

'_Alright I'll tell Shika and Ryosuke' _Naruto said. True to her word she immediately told the two about the current situation. Then they all sent approving nods to each other.

"So where should we go first?" Naruto asked

"I heard that there's a nice book shop there… they've got recipes for ramen there… want to go see?" Mikan said

"If we're only going to go there for the ramen book then no thanks…" Ryosuke said

"They also said something about an orange book that was newly released there…" Mikan said making Ryosuke want to go "The book store's got all the genres of books also… I bet they even have the book you've been waiting for Shika-nii… What was is called again?" Mikan prompted

"It's called Cloud Tactics… You troublesome little girl…" Shikamaru said eyeing Mikan

"I knew you guys couldn't resist… Let's go then…" Mikan said

They stayed in the bookstore for about an hour then they decided to look around. As it neared dinner time Mikan already ate 3 bars of Hershey's Milk Chocolate, Naruto already ate 6 boxes of strawberry pocky (influenced by Itachi), Shikamaru already muttered troublesome for a hundred times and Ryosuke already read the "innocent" little orange book for 5 times already (pervert).

As they were talking about their training schedule, Mikan saw an eye-catching necklace (for her). The pendant was in a shape of a wolf's head that was made of black metal with the edges tinted in red and its eyes were red diamond. The lace was also made of black metal and the outer circle of the lace was also tainted in red.

Mikan looked at the necklace with awe. She felt as if it was calling for her and it was actually made for her. Ryosuke noticed this and grabbed Mikan's hand and pulled her inside the shop.

"Ryo-kun what are you doing?" Mikan said as she walked inside the shop with Ryosuke

"You like that necklace outside don't you?" Ryosuke said letting go of Mikan

"Well yeah…but…"

"I'm buying it for you… Let's just say it's a late birthday gift…" Ryosuke said as he told the clerk what he wanted to buy

"You want that necklace?" the clerk said

"Yes sir…" Ryosuke said

"And are you buying it for the fine young lady?" the clerk asked

"Well yeah…" Ryosuke said with a faint blush on his cheeks

"You can have it for free… if you could hold it though… That thing seems to electrocute all my customers who have wanted to buy the thing…" The clerk said looking at the necklace

_Mikan, that necklace rightfully belongs to us, it got separated from us when we were transported._

'Really?'

_Really_

'Okay… well here goes nothing…' Mikan thought as she approached the necklace

Every step she took nearer the necklace seemed to glow brighter. Then finally, when she touched it she felt a warm sensation travel through her hand spreading all over her body.

"You okay Kazemi-chan?" Ryosuke asked a bit worried with what the clerk had said

"Yeah… Can you help me?" Mikan said raising the necklace to her neck

"Okay…" Ryosuke said smiling at Mikan

Then once the necklace was locked Ryosuke felt a warm sensation go through his body.

_Oi, I forgot… if a guy locks the necklace for you he'd know when you're in trouble. And if he makes a promise to you then he breaks it the lace will break… oh and you won't be able to remove that yourself… only the guy could remove it…_

'You should have told me! But I guess its okay… I mean its Ryo-kun anyway… he's my best friend…'

_Best friend? Are you sure it isn't more that that?_

'Oh whatever Natsuki…'

"Hey you two troublesome kids, Persona's here already. Time to eat, He's already agreed to pay." Shikamaru said from the doorstep.

"Alright…" they chorused

"Oh… Thank you… Clerk-san…" Ryosuke said

"Name's Toshima… you can come by here any time… I sell alice controllers too… you might want to buy one soon before the academy chooses one for you" the clerk named Toshima said

"We'll remember that Toshima-san… Well then, We'll see you when we see you… Ja…" Mikan said with a smile and waved at Toshima as they left

They went out the store with satisfied smiles following the young adults to an all cuisine restaurant. It sold all types of food from the usual Japanese cuisines to the more heavy American cuisines.

"Well pick your order and I'll pay…" Persona said with a small smile which shocked the 'stalkers' "Why don't you invite your little friends out Kazemi-chan?" Persona said. The stalkers were far by shocked with everything they had seen from the moment they decided to follow the dysfunctional family around.

"Hai… Come on out you stalkers… I know you've been following us since this afternoon… you might be hungry and tired already. But we won't be paying for your food though…" Mikan said

"Ahehehe… Gomen-nasai Namikaze-sama…" Anna and Nonoko chorused as the group came out of hiding

"It's no big problem… just don't do it again… if you told us you wanted to come we would have been more than happy to have you come along." Naruto said

"Aah… Arigatou!" the duo chorused blushing a bit

"Now take your seats and eat. Oh and by the way… My name is Namikaze Naruto, Kazemi's older brother" Naruto said

"Ah… Arigatou Namikaze-sama" the group chorused

They ordered their food, chatted for a little while, ate and asked for their check.

The other group though (Hotaru and the others) were still eating happily and chatting amongst themselves that none of them notice that Mikan asked for their bill and paid for it.

'I'm sorry guys but things can't be the same anymore…' Mikan thought who unconsciously sent this thought to the group, which caused them to stop for a moment and look around and at each other.

"We must be hearing things" Koko said whose statement was approvingly nodded at by the group but this didn't satisfy the so called ice queen.

'Mikan…' Hotaru thought as she eyed the sakura tree nearby and caught a glimpse of Kazemi's (Mikan's) sad smile, confused by what she saw she just brushed it off as her imagining things seeing that she desperately hoped that Kazemi was indeed her best friend.

'I'm sorry.' Mikan said to the wind which carried it towards the raven haired "Ice Princess".

And the wind gently blew a lone sakura petal past Mikan then towards Hotaru and landed beside Hotaru's plate.

Hotaru looked at the sakura petal with soft eyes and picked it up remembering her idiot best friend and gently pressed it in her palm with her fingers and let it go in the wind.

* * *

With Mikan and company

"Ne, ne, Ryo-kun… Where are you going to sleep tonight?"

"I wasn't able to fix my stuff yet so I generally don't have a place to sleep in right now…" Ryosuke said remembering his things at the dormitory

"Well you can stay with us in the cottage for tonight…" Naruto said smiling as they continued to walk towards the exit of Central Town.

"Okay…" Ryosuke said

"You can stay in the extra bedroom it's in front of imouto's bedroom. There are some spare clothes there" Naruto said as he stretched his arms "Well let's go, we need to rest. I'm sure all of you are tired and so am I."

"Yeah…" they chorused and they all shunshined to the cottage.

* * *

Well… this so far is my longest chapter! 17 pages… heehee… I hope you liked it… Especially the fight scene… I'm not really sure if it was good please tell me if it was good or not… and I'm really sorry I update so slow… Well review please… Comments on writing style (or anything else), corrections, and tips are very much appreciated… but NO FLAMES PLEASE. Well I'll see you when I update… lol.. and this is also the longest chapter that I didn't have to edit much.. xD ^^ see you in the next chapter! Please do review ^^

(1) It's one of those watches that spies use in movies as a communicator/ navigator. Whatever you call those…


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice or Naruto… Also… I also do not own Demon and Angel they belong to archdemonlord… Anything familiar that are owned by any known company I do not own… well you guys get the point…

I'm back! Okay, okay I know I'm slow with updating. But! I have good news! I now have a laptop so I can now update faster (hopefully) so… here is Chapter 4 of Shin Ookami!

And by the way, please re-read chapter 3 and this one! I changed something.

(Me talking)

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

'_Telepathic talking'_

"_Flashbacks"/ Flashbacks_

_Conscience/Inner self/ Telepathic talking in flashback_ (whatever you'd like to call it)

_Conscience/Inner self/ Telepathic talking in flashback_

Change Scene

* * *

Chapter 4

In a cottage found in the southern forest of the Alice Academy, we find our dysfunctional family sitting down on the table eating their breakfast, talking about their plans for the day ahead.

"Oh yeah… I was supposed to ask yesterday but I forgot. Mi-chan, why do your classmates refer to us as 'sama'?" Naruto asked

"Hmmm… Come to think of it… Why… hmm… I don't know really… but maybe it's because Kaito-san and I talk as if we were equal individuals, so I guess that's why… then I guess they just applied it with everyone else related to me." Mikan said

"Ah… no wonder… well at least you won't have to worry about too much trouble… ne?" Naruto said

"Well yeah… all I have to worry about are those troublesome fan girls… Well at least there aren't much of those in Konoha now…" Mikan said

"Damn right you are!" Ryosuke said with his mouth full of bacon and rice

"Ryosuke, don't talk while your mouth is full! It's disgusting!" Mikan said hitting him at the back of his head

"Gomen…"

'Those two act like a married couple.' The others thought

"Oh yeah, nii-san, my demonic bloodline activated yesterday. It's called Hoshingan. Would you like to see what it looks like?"

"Okay… remove the genjutsu then."

Mikan created some hand seals and dispelled the genjutsu. When the smoke cleared, you could see what changes the bloodline had made. First was that instead of her hazel hair, her hair was now black and her eyes were red with slits. And she now had fangs.

Everyone was staring at her as if she had two heads.

"What?" Mikan said not really caring about the changes "I'll be right back, Natsuki's calling."

* * *

Mikan's Mindscape

"Yo! What is it?" Mikan asked

_You know you don't really have to do this every time I want to tell you something, you can just open the mental link._

"I know that but don't you miss seeing me?" Mikan said pouting a bit

_Whatever, anyway, I called you cuz I just realized that I made a mistake, you didn't activate the Hoshingan. Instead your body started going back to its original form._

"Okay… so what about the bloodline?"

_At this rate you wouldn't need the bloodline anymore but I'm gonna look into it to see if the bloodline gene mutated or something._

"Uhuh... so is there anything else?"

_Yeah, the necklace, I think it's the reason why your body's going back early. Ah… okay I just found out something, what I first thought was the Hoshingan wasn't really it. __It's actually the gene that is responsible for our elite sense of sight that many only dream about having. It's actually the Senhoshime(1), it's still kind of a bloodline limit but it's exclusive only for the pureblood wolf demons. From what I remember our elders telling us, it has a lot of abilities some of which include an all seeing ability, pretty much like the dragon's eye view in that movie you watched one time._

"Eragon (2)?" Mikan asked

_Yeah, that one… anyway, other than that there's also a 360 degree vision unlike the Byakugan, which is only actually 359 degrees because of the blind spot. There are other abilities but I can't remember clearly. I'll tell you when I find out. I'm gonna go down on our memory archive. Hopefully the information on Senhoshime would be there. Now you better go back now, your friends are worrying._

And Mikan didn't even have time to argue because right after Natsuki said that she pushed her out of her mind with a wave of chakra.

* * *

Back in the Real World

"So what did she have to say?" Ryosuke asked almost instantly once he noticed that Mikan was done talking with Natsuki.

"Well, basically I don't have the Hoshingan," she paused to see their reactions, and as expected they were all shocked, "instead I have something better, but I'm not gonna tell just yet because we're not really sure yet, other than that I'm reverting back to my original form, still the same body etc, etc actually what you see now is part of my original form, the hair, eyes and such."

"Well that explains it, Tsubasa (3) said that the changes were too major for something a bloodline would do. Well anyway, I'll try to get some of my contacts _over there_ to find some information on… your 'family' … why don't you get your contacts to find some info too? I know at least a few of yours would get very valuable information especially your spies in certain organizations." Ryosuke suggested

"Yeah, actually I was thinking of that too… Naru-nii-chan can you ask your contacts too? I know you've inherited Ero-jiji's network so yea… Can you please?" Mikan asked

"Hai, hai… I'll get on to it as soon as possible." Naruto said ruffling the two's hair earning a groan of complaint from the two teenagers.

Naruto left them to prepare for school and started cleaning up the table with help of the two who've been listening quietly through the whole ordeal.

"You two are quiet…" Naruto said looking at Persona and Shikamaru

"Well, those two are enough noise already… and besides don't you think they look cute together?" Persona said

"Hm? Yeah…" Naruto pauses for a while "wait… wow Persona you actually said something like that!" Naruto said amazed/shocked

"Well I have my moments…"

"Oh shit I forgot! I have to meet Chouji! Ugh… this is so troublesome! Got to go now sorry. Naruto, Persona, I'll leave you two to clean up sorry, I'll cook tonight to make up for this. Ja ne." Shikamaru rushed picking up all his things.

"Be good you brats… See you tonight!" Shikamaru said then uses sunshin to leave

After the rush there was a minute of silence. Persona was eating silently. Mikan and Ryosuke were mumbling something about lazy people calling them brats.

"Well we have to go now aniki, nii-chan." Mikan said picking up her things from the couch with Ryosuke following in suit.

"Let's go?" Ryosuke said

"Let's…" Mikan said with a smile

"Bye bye! See you guys later…" Mikan said giving the two a two finger salute (I actually do this when I say good bye… it's fun.. lol)

* * *

Sunshin no Jutsu!

The two arrived in the classroom just before the first person came, who was, unsurprisingly, Natsume.

"Ohayo Hyuuga-san…" Ryosuke greeted Natsume

"Ohayo Neko-san" Mikan greeted Natsume

"Hn…" was all the response they got

They went to their seats and waited for the rest of the class.

"Ne Zemi-chan, do you think Hyuuga-san is related to Neji-san by any chance?" Ryosuke asked Mikan

"Nah… The Hyuuga's are nicer than him… Maybe his mom was an Uchiha then his dad's a Hyuuga… I mean with his personality's that of an Uchiha or the other way around? Or maybe his ancestors or something… Does it matter?" Mikan said

"Nah… Let's just forget it…" Ryosuke said

There was a pregnant silence in the classroom. Mikan being Mikan decided to break the silence..

"So, Ryo-kun, how much weight do you have on right now?" Mikan said

"Lemme see… Well I've shifted to gravity seals only recently, and I'm adjusting to level 5 already, so I think by tomorrow morning I'll put it up to level 6(4) . 'Bout you?"

"Same, I'm on gravity seals but I just increased it to level 6."

After the small talk there was once again silence. Mikan couldn't help it anymore and screamed.

"Bah! Time passes too slowly! What time is it already anyway?" She screamed/asked not even remembering that she had a watch of her own.

"Well, it's only 0600, if you even knew that… we still have two hours to kill, we could've walked going here so that we wouldn't have to wait so long, but you being your lazy self just had to use the sunshin jutsu to get here. So blame yourself for being so bored right now." Ryosuke simply stated relaxing back on his chair

"Hmph…"

And again there was silence.

"Sigh… I'll just sleep this time off, wake me up when class starts." Mikan said out of the blue

"'Kay…" Ryosuke said expecting her to do this kind of thing during her boredom. What he didn't expect thought was her leaning on him, using him as her pillow.

Shocked, Ryosuke went stiff not knowing what to do, but relaxed once he felt her even breathing that indicated that she was already asleep. So he wrapped his arm around her pulling her closer to him.

Natsume who saw everything unknowingly had a small speck of jealousy in his eyes a small part of him telling him that the girl that the blue-cat-eyed boy was his girl…

_Mikan_ a small voice whispered in his mind he heard this clearly and he felt a wave of guilt wash over him.

'No she isn't Mikan, Mikan's training somewhere right now… And won't be back until our last year here… and when she comes back, I'll apologize, hopefully she'll accept my apology.' Natsume thought to himself closing his eyes following the other two's example and slept the time away.

* * *

Two hours later

Ryosuke and Natsume both woke up to the sounds of various footsteps approaching the classroom. They were both shocked to find Imai Hotaru already inside the classroom tinkering on a new invention of hers with a small smile on her face.

'How could I have not have heard her come in?' they both thought to themselves.

Ryosuke saw her small smile and realized a hundred possibilities of what that smile could have meant. Mikan told him about Hotaru and the things she loved doing. Namely, taking blackmail pictures as the one on top of the list. This was the first thing that came to his mind as he woke Mikan up gently.

"Oi, Zemi-chan, wake up, class is about to start…" Ryosuke said gently shaking Mikan awake

Mikan slowly sat up straight and yawned, blinking her sleepiness away.

"Ohayou..." Mikan said softly

Ryosuke smiled at her antics and quietly got up and went over to Hotaru.

"Imai-san, I'd be happy if you didn't distribute that picture you took. Actually I'll be more than happy to pay you a sum of money in exchange for the film that you used for that picture." Ryosuke said softly so that only he and Hotaru would hear

"As much as I want?" Hotaru asked as the money signs faintly appeared in her eyes

"Why not? I'll pay you right now even, just give me the film. No cheating either Imai-san…" Ryosuke bargained remembering Hotaru's mischievousness.

"Agree, please, call me Hotaru, I'm not the only Imai here in the academy. There's still my brother, though he's graduating already, but anyway… How much are you willing to pay?"

Ryosuke whispered to her ear the amount and Hotaru's eyes went wide and gleamed in happiness.

"Well I definitely won't be cheating here… Here…. I'll even give you the only printed copy already for you to keep." Hotaru said tossing him the film and slipping the picture to his hand.

"Arigatou-gozaimasu Hotaru-san." Ryosuke said going back to his seat beside Mikan

"What was that about?" Mikan asked

"Well just a little exchange of supposed to be her blackmail material for us for a little sum of money. Nothing much."

"Knowing Hotaru, little is big… How many digits(5)?"

"Six…"

"What currency?"

"Local of course…"

"Hahaha! You mean rabbits? Then I don't need to worry… Konoha's currency and the currency here is way too different. So that six digits you gave her for the currency here is only about what… two digits out there in Konoha. (6)"

"Well here comes the teacher…" Mikan said when she heard Jinno's steps/frog.

"Good morning students." Jinno said entering the room.

"Good morning sensei." The classed chorused.

"Today's lesson will be…" Jinno said starting his lesson

Since Mikan and Ryosuke already knew the lesson. They both decided to do their own things. (Natsume too, knows but he's already reading his manga)

Mikan was playing with her water and ice alice forming them to miniature animals and let them play around on her desk: while Ryosuke was sketching (Mikan).

Jinno noticed that the two weren't listening so he decided to ask them questions.

"Namikaze-sama could you please tell the class what is the answer to this question." Jinno said starting to write the question on the board.

When he was done, Mikan glanced at the board.

"Zero…" Mikan said right after she saw the question.

The class was very much impressed with her speed.

"Can you tell me why?" Jinno said wanting to embarrass the girl

"Actually the answer is 0.3 but since there's no such thing as a 0.3 whole piece of cube. Then you round off the answer to the nearest tenth and so the answer is zero." Ryosuke answered for Mikan not even looking at Jinno.

"I wasn't asking you Seshina-san…" Jinno said

"Well if you don't like his answer Jinno-san then I'll give you mine… The answer is 0.296296 and so on. Round if off and it's zero. Why? Obviously, a 30 mm cube wouldn't fit in a rectangular box whose length, width and height is 20, 20 and 20 mm respectively, and that isn't even a rectangular box anymore. If you want a cube with that measurement to fit in the box then you should add 20 more mm to the box's length and 10 cm to the width and height… do that and the answer is 1.3333 and so on, round it off and it's 1." Mikan said not even glancing once at Jinno as she said this

(Their topic is volume… It's a second year high school subject in my school… I don't really care if it isn't a middle school subject… it's for the sake of writing… xD)

"Very good Namikaze-san…" Jinno said albeit his voice sounded a bit mad

Mikan nodded at Jinno as an acknowledgement. As this was going on the rest of the class were having migraines trying to follow what they were talking about. Well everyone besides the Hyuuga.

After that, the lesson continued and the rest of the subjects moved on with no hassle. The other teachers didn't bother asking Mikan and Ryosuke anymore hearing what happened during Jinno's class.

Lunch came and the class was ecstatic of having a break after the non-stop lectures from 8 in the morning to 12 in the afternoon.

Mikan and Ryosuke were sitting under a sakura tree near the cafeteria. Emi and Joe were there to serve them. They put up picnic table (with seats of course) and set their food there. They still had the usual special star type of food but the food were the type that you ate in a picnic. Mikan still had her blue berry cheesecake with milk and her chocolate for dessert while Ryosuke had a black forest cake with milk.

After eating they just had a chat as they sat down on the grass.

When Mikan and Ryosuke became friends, Mikan had trusted Ryosuke enough to tell him everything about her because to her, even though her onii-chan knew about it already, it still felt heavy on her which was why she told Ryosuke everything even to the point that she was a jinchuuriki (7)/demon; only to find out that he too was a jinchuuriki/hanyou (8); but other than that it was because her gut just told her that she could trust him.

As they were talking they heard a loud screech of 'Natsume-kun!' that got louder and louder indicating that a banshee was nearing.

"Ugh… it's the banshee… her voice is as loud as ever. She's worse than the Haruno-bitch" (Yes I don't like Sakura Haruno) Mikan said covering her ears.

"You bet…at least Haruno isn't this loud." Ryosuke said as he covered his ears.

"Ugh… Why is she coming here? Oh yeah… Hyuuga has a tree here also…" Mikan said remembering a tree near by

And indeed the banshee was with Hyuuga, who was ignoring his company. The banshee girl was clinging onto his arm and was having a one sided conversation with Hyuuga.

Yumi, the banshee girl, had obviously dyed light-brown hair and her previous hair color which is bright pink starting to show making the auburn hair look like highlights and it was awful to look at. Her natural eye color is dark brown but she is wearing blue contact lenses. Her face was pretty but the color mismatch of hair and eyes was just wrong.

(I'm not really sure if it matches or not but I kind of think it's a bit of a mismatch)

When they came nearer and nearer Mikan and Ryosuke were forced to apply dense chakra to their ears to prevent their ears to get damaged, the volume of her screech was 4 times as loud because of their higher than normal senses.

"Oi Hyuuga, tell your girlfriend to shut up!" Ryosuke said shouting at the Hyuuga

"Who are you to talk to my Natsume-kun like that!" Yumi said arrogantly

"Neko-san could you PLEASE make your loud banshee girlfriend to lower her voice. Her voice is too loud!" Mikan said looking at the two unconsciously glaring at the banshee.

"Hey Blondie! How dare you talk to Natsume-kun like that! And how dare you call me a banshee!" Yumi said sending a lowly glare at Mikan

By this time Mikan was already sending KI through her glare at Yumi. She just hardened her glare as she introduced herself.

"I, for your information, am Namikaze Kazemi. Sister of Namikaze Naruto. In the bingo book I am known as the Shadow Wolf an S-rank ninja, in the mercenary world I am known as the Black Wolf of the Elements. And did I tell you that I am the number one agent of the assassination squad? So don't mess with me," Mikan then created a Shadow clone behind Yumi "if you don't want to die in your sleep." The clone whispered then was quietly dispelled

Yumi was now hard pressed to breathe because of the killer intent(KI) and was scared shitless when the clone whispered to her ear.

It took Yumi a moment to compose herself "Ha! That's just a big lie! Your just a nobody. I'm sure if you really were the number one of the assassination squad then Natsume-kun would've know because HE is the academy's number one."

This triggered Mikan to throw a kunai at her but she purposely missed. The kunai stopped in mid air and Mikan teleported it back to her hand.

"Whoever said that I worked for the academy?" Mikan's eyes now red with slits glaring at Yumi, she bore her fangs and gave off a demonic growl, it was deep, feral and powerful as if it came from the demon world and came up to kill.

Luckily for Yumi, Ryosuke stopped her sending her a mental message that he had something important to say to her.

"Look, we don't want any trouble here Hyuuga-san. So could you please teach your girlfriend to shut up." Ryosuke said to Natsume looking at him in the eye meaning he was serious and turned to Mikan "She isn't worth it Zemi-chan, lets go."

Mikan then gave off another growl and said "I won't let you off that easily next time banshee."

And the two jumped up the tree's highest branch leaving the other two to the dust.

"They wont hear us from hear." Mikan said

"Mi-chan your hair…" Ryosuke said

"What is it?" Mikan asked

"Look for yourself…" Ryosuke said creating a make shift mirror with his ice.

Now, Mikan's genjutsued hair had the red highlights and her blue eyes now had slits and here fangs could be seen when she smiled.

"Well I don't really have an explanation to why this happened buuut… I like it." Mikan said

"Typical, we should go to class now…" Ryosuke said

Sunshin no Jutsu

"Natsume-kun who were they?" Yumi asked Hyuuga

"Hn…" Hyuuga replied walking away going back to the classroom, leaving Yumi in shock.

'If Natsume-kun himself would actually listen to them… then… that bitch must mean something…' Yumi thought as she processed through her mind what had just happened.

* * *

Classroom

When Mikan and Ryosuke arrived at the classroom, there wasn't anyone there. So they started to put up a chakra detecting field on the classroom, they were ordered to do so by Persona before breakfast. He had told them details about the "training mission" in the academy. Mikan and Ryosuke were to train selected students in the basic ninja for the upcoming event. While he, occasionally, would train the rest with combat. The ones that would really be training them would be Angel and Demon. Then, he also told them that they'd meet someone in the academy's field who would help them.

Mikan had figured it was her onii-chan aka Zenshin Kimura another fellow jinchuuriki. Though he too, had demon blood in him. Zenshin was her brother figure and treated him so. It was a mutual feeling where Zenshin would look out for Mikan and vice versa. Mikan considered him as her confidant when she met him, because when she was with him she just can't help but to tell him everything much like how she was with Ryosuke. And thus, it resulted to the two being brother and sister and it was made official when Naruto "adopted" them.

"Ne, Ryosuke-kun… Do you think Zenshin's still the same? I haven't seen him for 3 months already…" Mikan said silently worrying about her brother. Though the two were of the same age, there would be times when the other acted like the older one.

"Don't worry Mi-chan… Zenshin's fine… I mean… God knows what you'll do to him if he would even attempt to shut us off again." Ryosuke said grinning as he started concentrating his chakra again to create another surveillance spot.

Yes, before Mikan had influenced Zenshin, he was the type of person who barely talked. He was the type of person who always looked at the negative sides of life. He rarely smiled, and barely even laughed. But thankfully after a few nice conversations and so (threats, hard hits, and a lot of time together with our oh so lovable dysfunctional family), he turned out to be a sociable person who just had certain issues.

The class was starting to get filled after they applied the field.

'Besides the two of us, there are currently three others.' Ryosuke reported telepathically to Mikan

'I know. I can feel 3 more but I don't think they'll be capable of what we could teach from the amount of chakra they have so it would be better to just train them in combat with a bit of chakra enhancement but I think that would be it Angel and Demon could handle that.'

'So we'll be training, Hyuuga Natsume, Imai Hotaru, Nogi Ruka and refer Tobita Yuu, Ogasawara Nonoko and, Umenomiya Anna to Angel and Demon.'

'Heh… Isn't that ironic, all of them are or rather were my friends.' Mikan thought

"Aniki should be here already… and speaking of the devil…" Mikan said as she felt Persona's presence

Persona came in the room in his 'disguise' as Serio.

Not even bothering to introduce himself he starts. "Starting today, this class will be having training sessions as your gym class. There will be few chosen students who would be having… tougher training than the rest. Everyone else would be trained by some colleagues of the academy. Kazemi, Ryosuke, you're up…" Persona said bluntly

"Hyuuga Natsume, Imai Hotaru, Nogi Ruka…" Mikan stated calling the 'chosen ones' (9)

"Oh… Kazemi… He's at the grounds already… You'll meet him there…" Persona stated

Mikan just nodded in confirmation and proceeded out with Ryosuke tailing her.

* * *

Okay guys! I know this chapter is shorter than usual… and I updated really slow… I'm sorry about that… but please show me that you still love me with your reviews! It'll make me happy! Thanks guys! See you in the next chapter!

(1) Thousand Star Eyes- It's an ability (bloodline if you may) that i came up with and here are some of the abilities i thought of.. I'm still open for suggestions

-major peripheral vision much like the Byakugan only this doesn't have a blind spot [colored]

appearance: pure black eyes w/ yellow slits and small barely visible star like dots randomly distributed in the iris

-vision range can extend to about as far as radius of konoha or even more

-attains wisdom equivalent to age [w/ age comes wisdom]

-has a foreseeing ability although it only comes in dreams

-literally all seeing ability [much like the dragon's eye view in eragon]

-can entrance opponent in dream like state [more like put them to sleep]

-gives holder an entrancing voice that when singing and made eye contact w/ a person the person falls asleep

[when in demonic form it gives the person the ability to fly]

*shape shifting - into animals only

[not inanimate objects; too much power :) ] - not too sure about this yet need help with this-

(2) Not mine..

(3) Tsubasa is Ryosuke's demon. He too is in the canine family, a wild husky and an 8-tailed demon but is in the process of becoming a nine-tailed demon.

(4) Gravity seals, kinda explains itself, when you have a gravity seal on, the gravity acting up on your body is increased depending on the level, if you have it on Level one it's multiplied twice two thrice and so on...

(5) When I said digits I mean the number of zeroes

(6) This isn't true, just made that up... heehee

(7) Demon container/vessel literally human sacrifice but that's beside the point

(8) Half demon half human

(9) Let's say that they're smart enough to know that they're supposed to follow them


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice or Naruto… Also, I also do not own Demon and Angel they belong to archdemonlord… Anything familiar that is owned by any known company I do not own… well you guys get the point…

I'm really very sorry for not updating for so long… I'll make this chapter as long as I can make it… please forgive me!

Ow and** please re-read chapters 3 and 4**! I revised them and there were some changes made, sorry about that.

(Me talking)

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

'_Telepathic talking'_

"Flashbacks"/ Flashbacks

_Conscience/ Inner self_ (whatever you'd like to call it)

Change Scene/Jutsu

* * *

Last time:

"_Starting today, this class will be having training sessions as your gym class. There will be few chosen students who would be having… tougher training than the rest. Everyone else would be trained by some colleagues of the academy. Kazemi, Ryosuke, you're up…" Persona said bluntly_

"_Hyuuga Natsume, Imai Hotaru, Nogi Ruka…" Mikan stated calling the 'chosen ones' _

"_Oh… Kazemi… He's at the grounds already… You'll meet him there…" Persona stated_

_Mikan just nodded in confirmation and proceeded out with Ryosuke tailing her._

Chapter 5

* * *

Mikan and Ryosuke walked side by side followed by the silent three as they proceeded to the training grounds. Ryosuke eyed Mikan worriedly.

'_Oi, if you're just going to look at me like that all the way there you better start talking before I decide on beating you up.'_ Mikan told Ryosuke noticing his worried looks

'_Oh yeah, I forgot that we could talk like this. Anyway, I was just wondering if you'll tell them about your condition and your identity.' _Ryosuke answered as he checked the three who were behind them feeling their curious gazes.

"You do know it's rude to look at us like that?" Mikan said out of the blue.

"Gomen." They chorused.

"It's fine, well since we're just walking; I'll tell you the ground rules. First, you are to address me and whoever will be training you as 'sensei', what you address us outside training will be yours to decide. Second, I expect you to be wearing something more suitable for combat rather than your school uniform. Depending on how everything goes your training would be increased from a mere two hours to maybe the whole day. Third, since we'll be going to a place where you can choose more suitable outfits for yourselves later on, I expect you to be wearing them at all times."

She paused to let them process what she just said.

"And the most important thing is that I expect you to be on time, not a minute too early but not a minute late either. And… the rest you'll just have to find out." Mikan said not even looking at them as she set the ground rules

'_I'd prefer not telling them but if they find out then I'll explain but only if they find out and from what I've heard from the higher ups, word around here is that I died already but I don't think that they released that information to the students…I've got a new life now so if ever the past comes back to haunt me then I'll just take it head on.'_ Mikan told Ryosuke as she looked at the clouds

'I just hope they'll accept me for who and what I am.' She said to herself.

After a few minutes, they finally reached their temporary training grounds which was occupied by a single person who stood in the middle. His body flowing with the wind. From afar you could see that the person had deep black hair and a lean body.

'He actually put off his guard?' Mikan thought a bit disappointed before she started stretching then reached for Aegis .

"I advise you to step away." Ryosuke said realizing what Mikan was about to do.

After gathering some chakra in her blade Mikan sent out a chakra blade towards the unsuspecting guy.

Fortunately for the guy, he noticed it at the last second (his eyes wide from surprise) and jumped to his right and landed on the ground causing a small dust cloud to rise up.

"Do you have to do that every time we meet each other?" The guy said brushing of the dirt on his body.

"Hahaha! Sorry onii-chan but the look on your face is just priceless. But I'm disappointed onii-chan. You let your guard down." Mikan said as she walked towards the guy, grinning.

"Okay people, this person is part of the group which would be training you. So introductions are in order. Just state your name." Seeing that no one was going to volunteer. "Fine I'll introduce everyone on my own."

"Golden-cat-eyed here is Kimura Zenshin. Blue cat-eyed is Seshina Ryosuke. And I'm Namikaze Kazemi. Zenshin, Ryosuke, red eyes over there is Hyuuga Natsume. Blue eyes with the rabbit is Nogi Ruka. Violet eyes there is Imai Hotaru." Mikan said not even giving them a chance to talk.

"Eto… sensei, don't we need to know more about each other? Since you'll be training us and everything." Ruka asked

"Well yes, but there isn't really much else to say, because we were given all your individual profiles so we basically know the needed information." Mikan responded

"But what about you? We don't know anything about you." Hotaru asked a bit peeved that information about them were given to strangers.

"Gomen Imai-san, but that information is classified." Zenshin answered knowing that Mikan had already gone into her serious mode.

'Classified? Why would such kind of information be classified? There must be something going on here that they don't want us to know.' Natsume thought also peeved.

"Well since that's done, let's not waste any more time and start with the training." Mikan said having a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Ryosuke if you would."

"Okay maggots, give me 50 laps around this field and step on it!"

The three couldn't help but sprint towards the track, fearing the mischief that the blonde was planning.

(Sorry but I'm lazy to put in their actual training so yes you might not see any of their actual training here sorry)

* * *

Later that evening

We find Mikan idly stirring her coffee as she stared off into space. While you can see the boredom evident in her eyes, you could still see the masked sadness in her eyes.

Yawning slightly she finally notices the worried face or her best friend.

"I'm fine Ryo-kun… Just a little tired…"

"Yeah, tired, emotionally tired… ne?" Ryosuke said looking into Mikan's eyes.

"You know better than to lie to us imouto." Zenshin said as he too looked into her eyes.

"Maa, maa, don't look at me like that okay. It's just that I'm feeling guilty. But we all know it would be better if they didn't know and besides we all know that the Mikan they knew died already, a long time ago." Mikan said her eyes sad and distant

"But two years isn't really that much of a long time you know. Considering that we'll be living for millennia, two years isn't much." Ryosuke said trying to cheer her up knowing what she was referring to.

"A lot could happen in two years. We all know that." Mikan said sadness and regret now evident in her tone. Indicating that she didn't want to discuss the topic any further but knowing her two best friends they won't stop until she'd open up but thankfully for her Shikamaru came in.

"Good evening brats, d'ya cook anything for dinner?" Shikamaru asked

"Gomen Shika-nii, we didn't, we ate out. We didn't think that you any of you guys would be coming here this early." Mikan answers easily putting up her mask of happiness.

"Troublesome… I guess I'll just have to wait for Persona then."

"Ne Shika-san, why don't you just cook something for yourself? I mean you do know how to cook right?" Zenshin asks

"Because, Shin, it's too troublesome, and besides, why do it when you've got someone else to do it for you right?" Shikamaru said

"Typical…" The three teens chorused

"Well if you knew the answer why'd you have to ask?" Shikamaru said grabbing a can of beer from the refrigerator.

"Oh yea Zemi, I've got something for you, dunno what it says though." He said grabbing a scroll from one of his many pockets in his vest and threw it to Mikan.

"Arigato, who gave it though?"

"Tsunade-sama did, but whatever is in there isn't pretty. She looked pretty mad when she told me to give that to you."

Knowing that whatever scroll you get from the Hokage would have a chakra seal, Mikan sent a soft pulse of chakra to the seal dispelling it. And when she opened it she didn't like what she saw. Reading through the contents she frowned and closed the scroll.

"What was it?" Zenshin asked

"Just a mission, I gotta leave now if I want to be on time for training tomorrow." Mikan said going up the stairs to change to her shinobi outfit.

The three men raised their eyebrows not quite believing the girl. So they decided to find out.

Ryosuke grabs the scroll with Zenshin and Shikamaru behind him so that they could all read what was written.

"What the fuck are those stupid council members thinking? Sending a single person for this kind of mission? It's practically suicide!" Zenshin said angrily

"Well apparently they think that since I'm the key piece for _it_ then I'm powerful enough to do such thing. Don't worry I've got my summons to help me anyway it'd be a piece of cake!" Mikan said hearing the outburst

"Are you crazy? Even your summons wouldn't be enough to accomplish what they want you to do. Bring us with you Mikan, you and I know that there's no chance for you to come out of this mission without half dying." Ryosuke said mad at the council for requesting such thing and mad at Mikan for thinking of it as nothing.

"It's what the council requested Ryo-kun."

"But doesn't Tsunade-sama control them? Not the other way around?"

With this Shikamaru decided to answer. "Yes, but the civilian council doesn't know that. They just think of the Hokage as an ornament for our village, and sadly because the number of members of the civilian council is greater than the shinobi council we get over ruled."

"And that's one of the first things that I'll be changing when I become Hokage." Naruto who suddenly appeared declared

"Naruto! I thought you'd be coming in at midnight?"

"I thought so too but Kakashi-sensei had to leave cuz he got assigned a mission…"

"Well I gotta leave now. I'll see you guys tomorrow." Mikan said securing her mask.

"Mikan are you sure you want to do this alone? They didn't really say you had to go alone you know…" Naruto asked worried of his little sister/daughter.

"Hai…" she replied already on her mission mode.

"Mikan!" Zenshin and Ryosuke shout

"Don't bother you two, once she's decided you can't tell her otherwise." Naruto said stopping the two from chasing after the girl.

But Ryosuke wouldn't accept it. He shunshined in front of Mikan standing at the doorway.

"Why are you like this?" Ryosuke shouts at her.

"Ryo-kun, move out of the way. I have to go." Mikan said silently.

"No, not until you let us come with you in this mission." Ryosuke said firmly

"Ryosuke don't make me."

"NO!"

"Seshina move out of the way!"

Ryosuke winced; they all knew that once Mikan called you by your last name meant that she was _mad_.

'I know it'll hurt but it'd be worth it.' Ryosuke thought to himself standing his ground.

"Why? Why don't you want us to help you?"

"Please, just move out of the way…"

"Why?"

"Please, just move…"

"Tell me! Why not? Don't you trust our abilities? Do you not believe that we can protect ourselves too? Don't you trust us?"

"I JUST DON'T WANT TO LOOSE ANYONE ANYMORE OKAY? I'd happily risk my life rather than bring you guys and risk yours! I don't want to lose any of you anymore! Because it hurts too much! Loosing Fuyuki already hurt enough! Choosing to break off my bonds with Hotaru and the others hurt! I don't want to go through anymore pain! So _please_ Ryosuke, just… move… I promise I'll be back. Please… I just want to protect what I have left…" Mikan replied. Tears threatening to spill.

Ryosuke suddenly went stiff his shadow controlled by Shikamaru.

"Troublesome. We'll hold you on to that promise Mikan… Now go… and be sure to be back before training starts if not Naruto and I will go after you."

"Arigato, Shika-nii…"

Mikan then moved closer to Ryosuke whose tears were also threatening to fall, whispering "I'm sorry…" and hugged him tight. "I'll be back I promise." And she left via sunshin leaving no trail of her departure.

Shikamaru finally released his shadow and the room was covered by thick silence. No one knew what to say. The silence was broken by the sound of flesh and bone hitting hard wood.

"Dammit!" Ryosuke shouted grinding his fist into the wood.

"Ryosuke stop destroying the doorway and go to your room. The first aid kit is under the sink in my bathroom. After you clean that make sure you fix the door." Naruto stated looking sadly at the teen.

"Hai…" Ryosuke replied his bangs covering his eyes.

"This is really troublesome…" (I doubt that you guys wouldn't know who said that)

"But really, the council has gone mad! Sending _one_ person against an army? Fuck, sure we're talented, but we aren't invincible! And just _what_ is that Uchiha planning to do anyway?" Zenshin snapped

"From what my and Ero-sennin's spy network has gathered. He's planning to once again, take over the world." Naruto replied calmly

"Didn't he learn from last time?" Shikamaru responded

(Okay so I bet you guys are confused by now, well in my story when the Akatsuki war started, Itachi reported to Jiraiya [and by fault Tsunade] Akatsuki's plans which therefore resulted to Konoha winning and so everyone's alive. After that, when they thought they had killed Madara [yes, he's the Uchiha they're talking about] it ended up that they didn't because [for a reason that I do not want to explain because it involves troublesome researching]… well basically he's immortal well semi-immortal at least, he can still die but it's gonna take a lot of time, skill and beatings to kill him, I mean how would he live that long anyway? From the founding of Konoha till the reign of the Godaime - so that's my take on it. If this still confuses you feel free to PM me or ask in a review ^^ I'd be more than happy to explain it further)

"Apparently he hasn't, and this time it'll be more troublesome. Cuz apparently he's gonna try to take over the world using numbers. So our initial plan of training only one class should be changed. From what we've gathered the he'll be attacking various places and from what Suzaku tells me if he's planning what we think he is then the focal point of his plan would be here… in Tokyo."

"And regarding the number of this army that'll be attacking here how big would it be?" Shikamaru responded already calculating a plan in his head.

"The number would be as big as all of the hidden village's shinobi together…"

"You're kidding right?" Zenshin asked unbelieving

"Sadly I'm not. I've seen Makai (1), and I have seen their forces. Their numbers are great, even without the forces of the tailed demons, who have all agreed to help us. Although they'll have a significant decrease in power, their number is not to be taken lightly."

"Ichiro (2) says that there's a likely chance that he would even resort to demon possession. Literally this time. And there's no limit just to what those demons would posses." Zenshin added

"That certainly is a problem. I'll ask Shion (3) if she could help us make a seal of some sort to prevent this. Or at least push them out of whatever they're planning to posses. Hopefully we'll be able to make one before it starts."

There was a long moment of silence.

"But really, sending a single person to defend an entire country, albeit small, from an army of demons?" Zenshin said breaking the silence.

"It is a suicidal mission no matter how you look at it. But you are underestimating her. She's been dragged into various S-ranked missions because of Danzo's hatred of the Konoha 12 (4), but not once did we have to save her from the enemy." Shikamaru replied

"If you say so…" Zenshin replied

"So what's this I hear about demon possession?" Ryosuke asked coming down from the stairs

"I don't see any tools Ryosuke. Didn't I tell you to fix the door?" Naruto asked noticing the absence of repair materials.

"Ehehe… about that, Naruto-nii-san… I was looking for wood to replace it but I couldn't find any… so uhm… I was thinking that I'd fix it tomorrow morning before going to school since it's already too dark out to look for the right wood to replace it." Ryosuke answered nervously.

Noticing Ryosuke's nervousness, Naruto sighed. "Maa, forget it. I'll get a carpenter to fix that. You guys need all the rest you need since your training's gonna intensify, and so will your trainees'."

"O-okay. Thanks…" was all Ryosuke could reply.

"Why is there a dent on the entrance door?" Persona asked walking towards the kitchen.

"Troublesome… Mikan was assigned an S-ranked mission…" (Do I have to say who said that?)

"That still doesn't explain why there's a dent on the door." Persona replied (who by the way is in his 'Serio' form)

"Read this, then you'll understand. Catch." Ryosuke said picking up the mission scroll from the floor passing it to Persona.

Persona opened the scroll and read its contents. His eyes clearly saying he was shocked.

* * *

_Shin Ookami_

_Defend Wave Country from invasion. Deploy ASAP._

_-Konoha Elder Council_

* * *

His mind finally processing the information he sighed. "Well that definitely explains everything… All we have to do now is trust in Mikan. So, did you guys eat yet?"

"Naruto-nii and Shika-nii haven't. We'll go upstairs now. This day's been tiring." Zenshin said motioning to Ryosuke that he had to talk with him.

"Okay, rest well." Persona simply replied

After the two were out of sight Persona looked at the two remaining and started to prepare things for dinner and he said "So, while I'm cooking dinner because you two are too lazy to do so. Tell me what new information's been gathered lately."

* * *

Upstairs

"So what'd you want to talk about?" Ryosuke asked.

"We both know that we can't just wait here for Mi-chan to return. So I'm suggesting that we go follow her." Zenshin answered

"You're kidding right? She's gonna kill us if she even senses us 2 miles near her!"

"And when did that ever stop us?"

(This is gonna be mostly dialogue alternating between Ryosuke and Zenshin [in that order])

"I know, but I've thought it over. It's probably best if we let her do this alone. She has to blow off some steam anyway. Else she's gonna bring it out on the academy."

"You make a good point there. But what if we sent our summons to help her? I mean, we'd be able to help her without having to risk our health… that much…"

Ryosuke thought it over. 'Well it still involves some risk of her beating us, but the most damage she could give us would be two or three days worth of hospitalization, the least being half a day. Guess I could live with that.'

"But there's still a downside though. How much 'reinforcements' are you willing to send from your side?"

"Three-fourths…"

"Hmm… but we'd have to use a chakra replenishing pill to avoid suspicion."

"Very well, so when will we do this? We can't mask our chakra enough so that they wouldn't sense the summoning."

"Let's leave a clone each. Then we move out far enough so that they wouldn't sense the summoning when we suppress the chakra which would be around 3 or maybe 5 miles away from here to be safe."

With that said they both summoned a shadow clone of themselves to cover them and jumped out the window silently moving through the forest.

* * *

With Mikan

'Okay let's see. I'm about three hours away from Wave. When I get to the bridge, I'll summon them already. Or maybe when I'm about 45 minutes away already so that I would be able to replenish enough chakra in case they've already started once I get there. Dammit they didn't give any details.' Mikan thought to herself planning her course of action.

_Mikan, I just found something that could help lessen your travel time. As well as the risk of yourself getting caught._

'_What is it?'_

_Senhoshime gives you the ability to shape shift._

This made Mikan grin realizing all the possibilities to this ability.

_Only, you're limited to animals._

A bit disappointed, but still satisfied with the information. Mikan adjusted her action plan.

'_So how do I do it?'_

_It's pretty simple. Just think about it and have an image of what you want to transform into._

'_Cool. Arigatou, Natsuki.'_

With this she started to imagine herself into a shadow-cheetah (simply cheetah colored in full black instead of having spots), and continued her course towards Wave Country.

45 minutes had passed, and she was starting to pick up the salty scent of the ocean. Nodding to herself, she reverted back into her human form and summoned her wolves still running silently, the darkness hiding her form.

Her summons appeared silently; wind shifting instead of the conventional smoke announcing their presence in a matter of seconds hundreds of wolves surrounded her and followed her lead.

"Natsuki-hime (5), your orders?" The wolf nearest to her asked

"Roukan (6), divide and conquer. Once we get to Wave, dispatch immediately. You stay with me. We'll take north." (Let's just say that the Great Naruto bridge is in the north.)

The grey wolf, not needing further explanation, realizing the depth of the situation passed the order silently. They reached Wave ten minutes later. She let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding in when she saw that the country was not under attack… yet.

Mikan proceeded directly to Tazuna's house remembering that he was currently the head of the village.

Knocking on the door with Roukan behind her as they waited for anyone to open the door.

"Good evening, Mi- ANBU-san." Tsunami greeted with a small smile on her face. "Please, come inside."

"Arigatou Tsunami-san, can you please call Tazuna-san? I have to talk to him. It's urgent." Mikan replied no emotion betraying her voice although she was really happy to see them again.

"Hai, please wait a minute."

Mikan recalled what she saw when she passed through the town, remembering the tense atmosphere in the area, not even a single civilian outside. Only remember seeing guard patrols. 'Good, at least I wouldn't have to worry about civilian casualties. Hmm… it seems they have taken into either hiring or accepting mercenaries into the country. Not exactly the people you'd look for but enough for dealing with bandits.'

"Konbawa. Thank you for coming so soon. I'm surprised to see you here now. We only received the information this morning, but I'm glad that you arrived so soon since we have no idea when they're going to attack." Tazuna said sitting on the couch motioning for her to do the same.

"It's nothing Tazuna-san. I was worried that they might have attacked already which is why I came here as fast as I can."

"I see, so what do we do?" Tazuna said worry evident in his voice.

"I've already dispatched my… help, around the border. But I was hoping that you would have some able men to help?"

"Fortunately we do, it was a good thing that Inari convinced me to allow some mercenaries, even some missing-nin who wanted asylum reside here. Else we might've had to deal with another Gatou incident."

"How many do you have currently at this time? Are they loyal enough to fight for this country?"

"We have around 150. Yes, they are loyal. Anyone who wasn't were either driven out or convinced otherwise by those who were."

"I see. So that would be… 20 at north. 19 or 18 at the other points. Which point is nearest to your main medical facility?"

"Northeast."

"Okay, so 20 at north. 19 at south, east, west, and northeast. 18 at northwest, southeast, and southwest if there is excess I want them to distribute themselves evenly. I want anyone with medical capabilities to be at the medical facilities. I don't want any civilian casualties so please remind your people to remain inside their houses at all times unless I say so. Barricade any entrances they have in their homes. We start at 24 00, please pass the word."

"Hai, again, thank you for your help."

"I already told you Tazuna-san, it's nothing. Now I must take my post. Stay safe Tazuna-san."

And with that Mikan and Roukan sunshined to the bridge.

When they arrived at the bridge, they were greeted by the sight of hundreds of huskies and dholes approaching the bridge.

"Gomen, Natsuki-hime. But Ryosuke-ouji (7) and Zenshin-ouji wouldn't let you do this alone." A black husky with a white patch said as he approached her.

"Sigh… Well since you're here might as well. Divide and conquer." Mikan said with a bit of annoyance in her voice causing her simple order to be followed unquestioned.

"Captain." Mikan heard from behind her causing her to turn around.

When she turned around she saw 25 men and women all prepared for battle. She checked her watch. 24 00. 'Good they're on time.'

"Thank you for coming. I am sorry to say that I am also at a loss here. I was also not given the specifics of this… invasion. However if my network was correct they would start any minute now. Prepare yourselves!"

Satisfied Mikan turned towards the direction of the enemy and prepared herself.

"Natsuki-hime. I hear them." Roukan stated.

"Then let's get wild!"

* * *

The next morning at the Academy

The morning was silent, tense, and dull. The males of the household were silent. All too worried about the only female of the household.

"Ittekimasu." Ryosuke and Zenshin silently said.

"Itterashai." They three male adults replied.

* * *

At the Academy

Arriving 10 minutes before class started, their classmates couldn't help but notice the absence of their blonde companion. Concerned Yuu approached them.

"Ano, Ryosuke-san. May I ask why Kazemi-san isn't with you?"

"She had important matters to attend to. Hopefully she'll be back by lunch." Ryosuke replied giving Yuu a small smile.

"Oh, okay. Sorry for disturbing."

'I hope she's okay.' Ryosuke and Zenshin thought.

* * *

Yosh! Chapter 5! Done! It's already 2 AM here. So I'll start on Chapter 6 once I'm up errr… later. And if you find any errors please inform me. Hope you enjoyed! Please read and review!

(1) Makai- demon dimension

(2) Ichiro is Zenshin's demon, a 9 tailed demon (because he was already adopted by Naruto). He is a dhole demon. Dhole's are (from what I've seen) related to jackal. If you guys want to know more about dholes you can look them up in Google. You might ask why choose Dhole instead of the jackal. It's because I wanted for his name to actually make sense you know. Since Ichiro meant first son, then I decided to use a not so famous animal so that he'd be sort of unique so that he'd be the first of his kind.

(3) Shion is a priestess from the Land of Demons, who was a main character in Naruto Shippūden the Movie. She was born with two gifts: to seal away demons, and to predict someone's death. She had never been wrong until she met Naruto. source: .com

(4) The Konoha 12 consists of Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Shino, Kiba, Hinata, Lee, Neji, and Tenten. Basically the Rookie 9 plus Team Gai.

(5) hime- princess

(6) Roukan - wolf counsel

(7) ouji- prince

(8) Ittekimasu- I'm leaving.

(9) Itterashai - Goodbye, said to someone expect to return quickly.


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or Naruto. Or anything that is owned by someone else that would be mentioned here. The only things I own are the OCs and this story.

Yo! Chapter 6 up! I wanted to update it sooner but things came up so anyway... hope you enjoy! And I'm sorry I couldn't update it the day I said I was going to.

Thank you very much to Suzuka-san for your review! It really motivated me to continue writing! Arigatou-gozaimasu!

* * *

(Me talking)

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

'_Telepathic talking'_

"Flashbacks"/ Flashbacks

_Conscience/ Inner self_ (whatever you'd like to call it)

Change Scene/Jutsu

* * *

Last time:

"_Ano, Ryosuke-san. May I ask why Kazemi-san isn't with you?"_

"_She had important matters to attend to. Hopefully she'll be back at lunch." Ryosuke replied giving Yuu a small smile._

"_Oh, okay. Sorry for disturbing."_

'_I hope she's okay.' Ryosuke and Zenshin thought._

Chapter 6

* * *

Two hours till lunch and still no sign of Mikan. By this time her two best friends were already itching to get out of class and look for her.

Just when they were about to high tail it out of there. Someone knocked on the door.

Misaki, who was their present teacher, paused in his lesson to open the door.

"May I please excuse Kimura Zenshin and Seshina Ryosuke?" Shikamaru asked

"Ah Nara-san, may I ask why?"

Hesitating for a bit Shikamaru sighed, mumbling something Misaki couldn't quite understand. (Although obviously it was 'troublesome'.)

Motioning for him to move closer, he whispered. "It's about Kazemi…"

Nodding he called out to Ryosuke and Zenshin telling them they were excused for the rest of the period and told them that he would inform their other teachers of their likely absence.

Once the two were out of the classroom Shikamaru started moving towards the exit. Not even bothering to explain why they were excused.

They were silent for a few minutes when Ryosuke finally decided to ask.

"Ne, Shika-nii. Why'd you call for us?"

"You'll see…"

Ryosuke said muttering something about lazy bastards.

"Where exactly are we going anyway?" Zenshin asked

"Home. Then we're going to go to Konoha." Shikamaru lazily replied

"Konoha?" the two chorused.

"Yeah."

Not liking the possible reasons why they would be called there the two kept silent for the rest of the way.

* * *

Southern Forest

We see a group of 5 males standing in a large clearing with a black two-tailed fox that had lightning bolts running through his back, said fox was as big as a stallion.

"Okay guys since we need to go to Konoha and possibly get back here after three hours, I need you to call on your fastest respective summons so that we can reach the nearest point where I can Hiraishin us to Konoha." Naruto stated petting the fox beside him.

All of them nodding in confirmation they all (excluding Naruto who already had his) called on their respective summons. Ryosuke a husky. Shikamaru a black hawk. Persona a lion sized raven.

"Eh? Shin why don't you call on your summon?" Ryosuke asked realizing that Zenshin didn't summon anything.

"Well you have forgotten Ryosuke that I don't have a summoning contract."

"Eh? I thought you did?"

"You've forgotten that Ichiro is one of a kind; which is why I don't have a summoning contract."

"Oh..."

"But I have something to compensate…" Zenshin replied grinning

"Just get on with it already… we're wasting time here." Persona interrupted

"Gomen aniki." Ryosuke sheepishly replied. "Go on 'Shin"

Zenshin nodded his head in reply and with that he willed Ichiro's chakra to envelop him, altering his form.

A few moments later, standing in place of Zenshin was a raven dhole that had hazel eyes.

"Cool, I wonder if I can do that too." Ryosuke wondered

"Ask Tsubasa. Naruto-nii, let's go." Zenshin, now a dhole, stated

"Ikuzo!" Naruto commanded

And with that they started off towards Konoha.

* * *

Konoha: Hokage's Office

Tsunade was busy signing paperwork when a flash of red suddenly appeared in the middle of her office.

'Why doesn't anyone use the door anymore?' The… well endowed Hokage thought.

"Naruto…" she said with her voice hinting annoyance and showing a bit of relief 'At least it gives me a break from all these damn paperwork.' Tsunade thought.

"I see you haven't figured out the solution to paperwork obaa-chan." Naruto replied teasingly.

"Get that stupid grin off your face gaki. And it's not like _you_ already figured it out." Tsunade rebutted irritatingly but for those who knew her well they would know that she wasn't really mad but she was actually happy.

"Anyway…" Tsunade trailed off trying to remember exactly why the group was in her office in the first place when they were supposed to be in Tokyo training some academy students.

'Let's see… Naruto nope got no business with him… well other than having to train him to be the next Hokage anyway. Ryosuke, he already gave me his report for his mission to Suna. Zenshin, no business with him… Persona, none with him either…' she thought as she scanned the occupants of the room. 'Wait, they're usually six… I've only mentioned four. Who haven't I mentioned…? Right Shikamaru and Mikan…'

There was a long pause before…

'Oh shit! Mikan!'

And just as she remembered Shizune burst into the doors and shouted. "Tsunade-sama, she's awake!"

Quickly sorting out her thoughts Tsunade stood up and motioned to Naruto. He immediately got the message and said "Everyone connect." And with that he sunshined the group out of the Hokage's office and let Tsunade's chakra guide them to their destination.

* * *

Konoha Hospital

In the hallway of the third floor of Konoha's Hospital we find a frantic Tsunade, a worried mother hen (Naruto), two worried brothers (Shikamaru and Persona), and two confused teenagers (Zenshin and Ryosuke).

When they arrived, Shizune immediately left them to go some place and Tsunade started barking out orders to the already hysterical staff.

"What exactly is happening here?" Ryosuke asked watching the mess happening.

No one answered him.

Suddenly, Tsunade, who they didn't notice went somewhere else, appeared in front of them motioning them to follow her.

They arrived at a private room where a raven haired girl was confined in.

It took the two teens a moment to comprehend the information they were presented with.

"Mikan/Imouto!" The two shouted and rushed towards her.

"Shush you two. This is a hospital, that and she needs rest." Tsunade reprimanded.

"What happened?" Ryosuke, a bit calmer, asked.

"Roukan brought her here at around 07 00. She was already on the brink of passing out when they arrived. I'm surprised that she didn't." Tsunade replied

"What was her condition?" Naruto asked as he fondled with Mikan's hair.

"She had various cuts and bruises all over her body, a gut wound. A deep cut in her back, a slight concussion. And two fractured ribs, which amazingly didn't puncture her lungs." Tsunade answered as she diagnosed Mikan's condition.

"But thankfully, majority of her injuries were already half healed when she arrived." Tsunade added.

'Not to mention she suffered severe blood loss and chakra exhaustion.' Tsunade said to herself.

They all let out a breath they didn't know they were holding.

"How long before she's fully healed and ready to go?" Persona asked

"Around three and a half days... five at tops. And no Zenshin, Ryosuke, you can't stay. Neither can you Naruto, or Shikamaru or Persona. You all know that you have to back to the academy after this. You have to train the students. We all know that training them is your top priority right now." Tsunade replied already knowing what they would say.

"If we can't stay then who's gonna watch over her?" Zenshin asked masking his anger but letting worry lace is voice.

"Shizune and Sakura would take turns in checking up on her. I'll come by at the end of every day. And if it makes you happy I'll send you updates on her condition. 'Cuz I don't want you pestering me." Tsunade replied as she wrote down her findings.

"Oh, and when you go back bring Genma, Anko and Gai with you. Since you'll be 'increasing' the number of trainees, I've decided to give you help. We all know you'll go mad if you have to handle all those academy students all by yourself." Tsunade stated as she reached inside her pocket for a scroll. "And here's something to help you later." She added tossing the scroll to Naruto, who decided to read the scroll later.

There was a moment of silence, the occupants not really knowing what to say.

Shikamaru remembering something broke it.

"Tsunade-sama... A while ago, in the office... Shizune said that she woke up... How come...?"

"She was only conscious for a few moments. She fell asleep almost immediately after."

"By the way... Where is Roukan? I figured he'd be here." Ryosuke wondered

"I told him to go to Hana for a check up, protocol that's all."

"Protocol it may be Tsunade-sama, but it was not needed." Roukan stated as he entered the room.

"It's still protocol Roukan. And speaking of protocol, you haven't given a report yet." Tsunade said

"I believe that is not my duty Tsunade-sama. It is Natsuki-hime's." Roukan replied jumping into Mikan's bed.

"Eh? Roukan, why are you so small?" Ryosuke asked

"Because, Ryo-baka, it saves chakra." Roukan replied though you can tell in his voice that if he were a human he would be grinning.

"Oh sure Rou, 'because it saves chakra', I bet it's just because in that form you can cuddle up to Mi-chan more." Naruto interjected playfully

"Okay everyone. If you're all gonna be like that get out of here! Mikan needs her rest." Tsunade commanded.

"Maa, maa, Tsu-baa can't we at least stay for a few more minutes? Let's say... 15?" Naruto negotiated

"Fine... 15 and that's it." Tsunade replied walking out of the door.

Only to stop halfway and added, "She actually refused to stay for treatment before she finally passed out." And with that said she proceeded out of the door.

"Really... This girl... So stubborn..." Naruto said lightly caressing his sister's face

"Who does she remind you of...? Hmm...?" Shikamaru said teasingly (I'm suddenly reminded of Lion King 2. [I memorized all the lines of the movie as a kid lol] Uh... So I guess disclaimer to that line.)

"Shut up Shika..." Naruto denied

"Well it is true Naruto-nii." Ryosuke said

"We're supposed to be quiet you know. Else Tsunade-sama would kick us out." Persona reprimanded

"Ne Rou, what exactly happened?" Zenshin asked

"Well... Just so you won't bother Natsuki-hime when she wakes up. 'Cuz she would still need her rest..." Roukan said

"So...?" Naruto said, anxious

"We wanted to get there as soon as possible because we didn't know when they would strike. Thankfully, when we arrived at around 23 45 h, they weren't there yet though we already felt them near. She estimated we had around 15 minutes before they attacked." He paused for a while to let the information sink in a bit.

"Because of the lack of information, she decided to use 'divide and conquer'. So immediately after arriving the rest went off to their assigned posts."

"Which were?" Shikamaru asked trying to evaluate Mikan's plan for future training.

"All directions of the compass, though the North is where the defense was heavy and also at North East where the medical center was..." Roukan replied

"As I was saying, upon arriving my squad were left behind at point north and Mikan and I dropped by Tazuna's to get some information specifically on possible reinforcements. Thankfully, there were. So immediately after that, we returned to our post and waited. At 24 00h the reinforcements arrived. Each post having around 20 to 25 and lucky for the two of you..." Roukan looked intently at Ryosuke and Zenshin his voice dripping with sarcasm "Your summons arrived just before we started. So get ready when she's up."

"Okay... But if they attacked at various points, then she wouldn't have so many injuries. Care to explain?" Persona questioned

"I was getting to that. Anyway, just as she predicted they arrived just seconds after your summons arrived. Only... they only attacked at north. So the others had to rush towards north, which took around 20 minutes. And I tell you having only Natsuki-hime, two squads and 25 shinobi fighting against thousands of foolish low level demons, we were doing pretty well... for the first 10 minutes. After that the 25 shinobi were already showing signs of exhaustion. Fortunately they were able to hold up until the others arrived. Upon the arrival of the others Natsuki-hime ordered them to go to the nearest medic station and stay there until they're fully rested. Same went with the summons."

"And let me guess, you all got to rest, except for her." Zenshin concluded

"And right you are Zenshin-ouji." Roukan replied

"Stop calling me that."

"Anyway... as you were saying Rou." Ryosuke interjected

"We were going strong for three hours. But we noticed that they didn't seem to get any lesser. And by this time we already had 15 injured and 10 with exhausted chakra supplies. So she decided to locate the source."

"She did this by using 10 Bunshin Daibakuha (1) and then transformed them into mice. The clones then went to look where the army ended and immediately set off once they find it. They exploded after around 15 minutes after they were deployed and 30 minutes after that we already noticed the difference. "

"So I assume that after this the 'opposition' was eliminated?" Persona half questioned and half stated

"Well, almost. Even though their numbers were obviously dwindling our forces were already at limit so we had to end it immediately. So Natsuki-hime decided to use a super powered Kaze No Yaiba (2) and those who could still produce some powerful techniques did so. Well that was for your summons." Roukan motioned to Zenshin and Ryosuke. "For us we directed what chakra we had left as well as nature's chakra to increase the power of the technique. This resulted to the summons being dismissed and the opposition eliminated." He concluded

There was a pause in the air.

"You said the summons were dismissed? How come _you're_ still here?" Ryosuke questioned

"Well, I was smarter than the others and kept some of nature's chakra for myself. Be glad I did... else Natsuki-hime wouldn't get enough rest. Because I just know if we stayed in wave after her injuries were all healed she'd get up and go back to the academy..."

'...especially now that she has to have contact with her past... the academy is the last place she'd want to be in.' Roukan added to himself

"Okay people times up. You all have to get back to the academy. And Roukan I just realized, shouldn't you go back to Makai right now... to attend to your squad?" Tsunade announced as she came into the room once again.

"Fine, fine... a deal's a deal. We'll go back now. I'll just pick up some things from the house (3) and we'll go. Can you tell Shizune or anyone to tell Gai, Anko and Genma to meet up with us in the North Gate in 20?" Naruto stated

"Already did, Roukan you haven't answered my question." Tsunade replied waiting for Roukan to give his answer.

"It's a wolf habit. We always attend to each other. (4)" Roukan replied

"Fine... You can stay. Look after her... For me and these guys..." Tsunade stated and motioned to the five males moving out of the room.

"Of course Tsunade-sama..." Roukan replied.

Now assured that there would be someone who would watch over their little sister/granddaughter/best friend, they all exited the room with a small smile on their faces knowing that she's going to be alright.

* * *

Yo! I'm sorry I took so long to update. I'm really, really sorry. That and because this Chapter's short. I'm so sorry... It's just that I'm adjusting to college life right now. It's pretty overwhelming. But hopefully since I don't have classes during Fridays to Sundays I can update at a faster pace. Honto ni gomen-nasai!

But please if you really like this story, if you really want me to update faster, review! Cuz reviews really do help me write! So please, please, please review!

1) Bunshin Daibakuha - Shadow Clone Explosion

2) Kaze No Yaiba - Wind Blade

3) He's referring to his parent's house which they now occupy whenever they're in Konoha.

4) I got this from a show I watched one time in Animal Planet. It's called Living With the Wolf man.


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or Naruto. Or anything that is owned by someone else that would be mentioned here. The only things I own are the OCs and this story.

Hi there! So I think this is faster than before... Well you know for my usual pace that is... But anyway... this chapter is for all my fellow Filipino fanfictioners out there! Cuz our Independence Day is on Monday! So yes... so because of this I decided to put in something Filipino here... (: hope you guys like it!

Enjoy!

* * *

(Me talking)

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

'Telepathic talking'

"Flashbacks"/ Flashbacks

_Conscience/ Inner self_ (whatever you'd like to call it)

Change Scene/Jutsu

* * *

Last time:

_"It's a wolf habit. We always attend to each other." Roukan replied_

_"Fine... You can stay. Look after her... For me and these guys..." Tsunade stated and motioned to the five males moving out of the room._

_"Of course Tsunade-sama..." Roukan replied._

_Now assured that there would be someone who would watch over their little sister/granddaughter/best friend, they all exited the room with a small smile on their faces knowing that she's going to be alright._

* * *

Chapter 7:

Hours after Naruto and company left, we find a panicking Roukan and Mikan who was showing signs of distress in her sleep.

Roukan not knowing what to do, he did what any other wolf would do in a similar situation... he howled.

This alerted the wolves that resided in the forests of Konoha and resulted to all of them rushing towards the source.

So a few minutes later we find Mikan and Roukan surrounded by the resident wolves of Konoha, _all_ of them. How you might be wondering. Well the window was open. Anyway back to the story.

'_Roukan-san, what is the problem?'_ One of the wolves who was obviously an alpha male, asked.

_'Ah, sorry for disturbing your night minna-san, but I'm caught up in a predicament here. As you can see Natsuki-hime is currently recovering from her injuries and I've been watching over her for these past few hours. However as you can also see, she is obviously having a nightmare, and we all know that Natsuki-hime only has nightmares about a certain event. And there are only a select few who can help her whenever she has these nightmares.'_

_'So now, I'm caught up between having to watch over her and having to inform someone, most preferably Tsunade-sama or Kakashi-san or even Ino-san or Inoichi-san, and hopefully even Suzaku-sama (he's referring to Naruto) as well as Ryosuke-kun and Zenshin-san.'_ Roukan explained

_'And so you called for our aid...'_ Another one concluded

_'Very well Roukan-san. We will help you, not only because you are our kin but also because we owe Natsuki-hime.'_ Another alpha male stated

And with that stated they all dispersed to search and inform the people mentioned.

'Natsuki-hime, just hold on a little bit longer.'

* * *

Mikan's Dream: Mikan's POV

I was standing in a field of grass. Everything shined with their natural beauty. And just ahead of me were Ryo-kun, Zenshin-nii-chan, Naruto-nii, Shika-nii, aniki (Persona) and ... no... Not this... anything but this!

I desperately wanted the dream, no, nightmare to stop, but it just wouldn't! I can't even run away from it! So I'm left having to play out something I want to forget.

But noooo, for some reason I can't forget it. It's as if this memory doesn't want to be forgotten, as if it wants to haunt me forever.

So here I am, in the only nightmare I have. I'm walking in a field of grass, walking towards _him_. And then I find myself calling him out with the nickname I used to call him oh so fondly.

"Kuuuuya (Big brother)!"

"Yes your Sakuraness?" He answers

"Meh... I still don't get why you call me that."

"Well, because you're a princess, and you're named Sakura so there. That and because I know someone else who's named Mikan too..." He replied with a small blush on his face.

"But that still doesn't give me a reason why you call me that! Even though Mikan-chan and I have the same first names, it isn't an excuse!" I replied with a huff

"Mi-chan, we all know that it's because this guy just loves you to bits, as a sister of course." Naruto-nii interrupted

"Maaa... way to spoil the fun onii!"

"Maa, Naruto-nii, pabayaan mo na. Ganoon lang talaga siya manlambing." (Maa, just leave it be. It's just her way of showing affection.) He responded

"You spoil her too much Fuyuki." Naruto-nii replied

"Well that's because she's my little princess."

"Oi! Hindi purkit na kuya ang tawag ko sa'yo pwede mo na akong tawaging maliit noh! Pareho lang kaya tayo ng height!" (Hey! Just because I call you my older brother doesn't mean that you can call me little! We're just the same height you know!) I interjected a bit irritably though deep inside I knew I was happy.

"Ah, ah, ah." He says waving his finger at me. "I haven't had my growth spurt yet your Sakuraness. So one of these days I _will_ be taller than you! And besides I already am. I'm like what? Two inches taller than you! I think even three!"

"Hmph."

And everyone just laughed at my predicament, it was then that I knew that this happy moment was about to end. I mentally prepared myself for what was to come, but I knew no matter how prepared I was, it would always end the same.

The laughter died down and suddenly the sky turned dark, everything turned dull. We were all on alert. Thankfully this part was always tuned out, but the events still have the same impact. Everything else happened like a fast forwarded movie. But I'm still reminded of every single detail. And then the part that I dread the most, it slows down. And I'm now at a forest clearing. Along with Fuyuki and a deranged demon.

"Mi-chan go, I can handle this." He tells me.

"Hell no! I'm not letting you! You are already injured enough because of me. Just let me fight! If we work together we can easily defeat that demon! And besides! Those who abandon their friends are lower than scum! I am not lower than scum! I will not leave you alone here!" I practically shouted at him tears already spilling in my eyes.

"Princess..."

"Don't call me that! I'm not your princess! Mikan-chan is!"

"Mi-chan, as because I am your older brother I am ordering you to go!"

"No!" I stubbornly replied and proceeded to use my fire alice to attack the demon.

The next thing that happened I couldn't hear anymore. Also because I want to forget.

First I'm attacking the demon. Then the next thing I know, the demon was able to free itself from the chakra string he managed to bind him in previously and was on his way towards me. I was prepared to defend myself. But suddenly, I find him in front of me.

"... Why...?" I said and I knew right at this moment I was already crying. "I'm not even your princess. Mikan-chan is your princess."

"Because... you _are_ my princess and she's my queen."

"Then why would you sacrifice your life, just for a princess?" By this time, I couldn't see anything anymore; I could only hear my voice and his. But I knew at this time, he was already pale from losing too much blood.

"Because I love the both of you to bits."

"I love you too... onii-chan." And then everything around me was silent.

* * *

Back in the real world

Ino, Tsunade and Kakashi were already in the room. Ino used one of her own jutsus that helped with nightmares and when mixed with healing chakra, converted the nightmare into a dream. Which was why Tsunade was just beside her directing her healing chakra towards Mikan's head.

When the three arrived Mikan was already whimpering loudly which caused for the two females to immediately get into action while Kakashi was there to help Roukan calm down.

But unfortunately they arrived a bit late, she was already crying when they started with the 'healing' process. And even when she had significantly calmed down already she was still crying.

"Of all the times it had to happen now?" Roukan stated

"But she didn't even have any casualties in this mission. So why?" Tsunade responded

"Gomen Tsunade-sama. I don't know either. Probably Suzaku-sama would know." Roukan answered

"Well whatever the trigger was; let's be glad it didn't affect her much. Else she's gonna have to stay here along with the other five and that just can't be. They have to train the academy students." Tsunade stated

"Well, worst case scenario that, that does happen, then either way you're gonna have to look for someone who could replace them temporarily." Kakashi commented

"Let's hope that won't happen. We're already lacking people as it is. Most of the qualified jounin are regularly out on missions and are too vital right now to be removed from the active list."

Suddenly, a wolf jumped in through the window.

'What the heck? Even they don't use doors anymore!' Tsunade thought at the very, very back of her mind.

_'Roukan-san, I was ordered to inform you that Ryosuke-san and Suzaku-sama are on their way.'_ The wolf stated

_'Thank you. And please tell everyone thank you on my behalf, as well as Natsuki-sama's.'_ Roukan replied

And with that the wolf jumped out the window once again.

"Alright all done. All that's left is for when she wakes up." Ino stated

"Thank you Ino-san, Tsunade-sama." Roukan said undoubtedly grateful.

"Alright then. We'll be off. I still have paperwork to sign." Tsunade said with a bit of a groan.

"And I still have to pack for my mission later." Ino added

"Ja ne." They chorused.

"Well I guess I'll stay then. So that someone would be here if ever Naruto and Ryosuke aren't here yet when she wakes up." Kakashi said making himself comfortable in the chair near the bed.

* * *

In Mikan's mind

Everything was silent. But at some far off distance you can hear a faint voice that was saying:

"Mikan... Mikan wake up!"

Mikan, dazed, started to move towards the source of the voice.

"Mikan!"

"Fuyuki..." Mikan mumbled tears streaming down her face.

"Mikan, stop crying please? Para kay kuya? (For your big brother)."

"Fuyuki?"

"Yeap! The one and only in the flesh. Well not really, but you get what I mean."

Not really thinking of what she was doing, she rushed towards him.

"Kuya!" Mikan exclaimed

"Sssh... stop crying already. I'm here."

"I've missed you... so much..."

"I know... I know. And I also know you've done some stupid things while I've been away. Natsuki! Didn't I tell you to take care of her for me?" He exclaimed facing at a seemingly random direction.

"Well she's alive isn't she? So I _am _doing my part. So shut up." Natsuki replied coming out of nowhere.

"Natsuki? _You've_ been able to _talk_ to him for these past years?" Mikan yelled angrily

"Now, now don't fight ladies, there's enough of me to go around." Fuyuki said

"Shut up!" The two shouted simultaneously.

"And why exactly was I not aware that you were talking to him these past years?" Mikan questioned

"Well, because no matter how you go about it he _is_ dead." Natsuki stated as a matter of fact-ly

"Well how does that make _me_ any different with _you_?"

"Because your Sakuraness, she's practically not 'of this world'. D'ya get what I mean?" Fuyuki answered for Natsuki

"Maa, fine. But why didn't you tell me?"

"Cuz Kami-sama made her swear not to." Fuyuki answered, once again, for Natsuki.

"Fuyuki, the time?" Natsuki interrupted

"Right... Well as much as I want to stay Mi-chan, but my time here is limited, but don't worry, I'm able to contact you within this year."

"Okay! So why exactly are you here?" Mikan asked

"Nat, can we talk in private?"

Natsuki then nodded and left.

"Mikan, I know you've been upset about me for this past two years. So I'm here to tell you that, can you please not be? I don't like seeing you sad. Because it makes me sad too."

"I'm sorry... It's just that... I could've done something to help you. If only I didn't freeze up when that demon leaked some KI, then you wouldn't have been so injured and you would've survived that attack you blocked."

"Shush, now. That's all in the past. And look where it got you. You're practically one of the strongest kunoichi out there!" Fuyuki said comfortingly.

This caused Mikan to smile, although a bit small, it was still a smile.

"Thanks..."

"Now there's my princess."

"I've missed you... really."

"I missed you too, your Sakuranessnessnessness!" Fuyuki responded with a huge smile.

Infected, Mikan's smile grew bigger.

"You've missed that haven't you?"

"Of course! Cuz it's from you!"

"I'm glad that you're doing well even without me. Now, can you just please tell Ryo that you love him? Really! I gotta go now! Bye! I love you!" Fuyuki said quickly disappearing.

"I do not love him!" Mikan shouted with a deep blush on her face.

Sticking her tongue out where he previously was. Mikan smiled. "I love you too, you baka."

Back (again) to the real world

"Well, look at what we have here. She's calmed down. Seems like she dreamt of something nice." Kakashi said mentally giggling perversely.

'_Thank you Kami-sama.'_ Roukan thought.

"Mi-chan! Is she alright?" Naruto and Ryosuke shouted coming into the door.

"Ah! Naruto! Ryosuke! Just in time. I was about to leave!" Kakashi said

"Huh? Why the fuck are you so happy? Mikan just had a nightmare!" Ryosuke said panicking. Thinking to himself 'I knew we shouldn't have left!'

"It's all been taken care of Suzaku-sama, Ryosuke-kun." Roukan responded

"Oh... okay. Hey! She seems fine!" Ryosuke commented checking up on Mikan.

"Well it seems Ino's jutsu was really effective." Kakashi replied. "Well I have to go now. Ja!" and he poofed out of the room.

"But I believe it was something else. But I'm not sure what. We'll just have to wait for her to wake up to find out." Roukan commented.

The two just nodded fatigue catching up with them.

"We'll just (yawn) take a nap. Wake us up if anything happens." Naruto said sleepily.

"Very well. Rest well Suzaku-sama, Ryosuke-kun."

* * *

The next morning

We find Ryosuke alone with Mikan in the room cutting up some apples to eat. Naruto had gone out to eat some ramen and Roukan went out to hunt for food which left him with no choice but to stay.

Bored he started singing a song that he thought he had forgotten the words to.

* * *

Nung una kitang nakilala di man lang kita napuna, (When I first met you I didn't even notice you)  
Di ka naman kasi ganoon kaganda, di ba? (You aren't that pretty anyway, right?)  
Simpleng kabatak, simpleng kabarkada lamang ang tingin ko sa'yo. (I only saw you as a simple friend)  
Di ko talaga alam kung bakit ako nagkakaganito! (I don't really know how it ended up like this)  
Ako'y napaisip at biglang napatingin, (I'm suddenly in thought and took a look again)

di ko malaman kung anong dapat gawin! (I just don't know what I should do)  
Dahan dahang nag-iba ang pagtingin ko sa 'yo, (Slowly the way I saw you changed)  
Gumanda ka bigla at ang mga kilos mo'y nakakapanibago! (You suddenly became pretty and your actions were different)  
Napansin ko na lamang na nalalaglag ang aking puso. (I just noticed that my heart was falling)  
Bullshit talaga! naiinlab ako sa 'yo! (This is really bullshit! I'm falling in love with you!)  
Tuwing kita'y nakikita ako ay napapangiti, (Every time I see you I find myself smiling)  
Para bang gusto kong halikan ang iyong mga pisngi! (It's like I want to kiss your cheeks)

Chorus:

Minamahal kita! ba't di ka maniwala! (I love you! Why don't you believe me?)  
Anong kailangan kong gawin upang seryosohin mo ang aking sinasabi tungkol sa pag- ibig ko sa 'yo? (What do I have to do for you to take seriously what I'm saying about my love for you)  
Maniwala ka sana, minamahal kita! (I hope you believe me, I love you)

Nasira na yata ang ulo ko, kaiisip ko sa 'yo (I think I've gone mad thinking about you)  
Kahit saan tumingin ay mukha mo ang nakikita ko! (Everywhere I look it's your face I see)  
Pero bakit para kang naiilang (But why is it like you are disturbed?)

Ako ay iyong iniiwasan? (You are avoiding me)  
Ako'y nahihirapan uy, wala namang ganyanan! (I'm hard up. Hey! Don't be like that)

Pakiramdam ko ngayon ako ay nagmumukhang gago! (Now I feel like I look like a fool)  
Ngayon ako'y nagsisisi kung bakit ako nag "I love you"! (Now I'm regretting why I said "I love you!")  
Kasi di na tayo tulad ng dati (Because we aren't the same as before)  
Ngayon sa akin ay diring-dire! (Now your disgusted with me)

Repeats Chorus

* * *

"Ryo-kun?" Mikan who just woke up asked.

"Mi-chan! You're up! You had us worried there!" Ryosuke said putting down the apple he was cutting.

"How can I not wake up! You were singing so loudly!" Mikan responded.

"Sorry about that. I was bored. Naruto-nii and Rou-kun went out to get their breakfast. I'm stuck with an apple." Ryosuke said

"Speaking of food, I'm starving!" Mikan said lifting herself up in a seating position.

"Whow, hold on there, you might re-open your wounds!" Ryosuke exclaimed rushing forward to help her sit up.

"I'm fine Ryo-kun. How long have I been out?"

"Around a day..."

"Ow, okay. I guess I should take it easy then. Wait why are you here? Shouldn't you be in Tokyo?"

"Well..." Ryosuke replied not really knowing how to explain why they were there.

"You had _that _dream again Natsuki-sama." Roukan in his human form stated.

"Roukan! It's good to see you in your human form. But I am wondering why?" Mikan said smiling.

"The pack told me to give these to you. They were worried about you." Roukan replied putting down some fruits and dead rabbits down.

"Ah, I'll make sure I'll thank them then..." Mikan said

"Hmm... I'm thinking rabbit stew! Rou, can you look after Mi-chan for awhile? I'mma bring these to the house to cook for breakfast, if that's okay with you Mi-chan?" Roukan said picking up the rabbits.

"Sure!"

And with that Ryosuke left.

"So you've talked to him?"

"What the... You were able to? That's just unfair!" Mikan replied

"Ah, no it was just a guess."

"Well it's a very smart one. Yeah, I was able to talk to him. I really miss him Rou..."

"We all do..."

"_Of course you do!"_ A disembodied voice said.

And all Mikan could do was smile.

* * *

Wee! I'mma end here for now. It's 03 55 here right now. And I just came from travelling, so I should _really_ be asleep now. But I was so inspired to write that I was afraid that if I don't write it _now_ I might lose it so yes. And that's how much I love you guys! xD

I don't own the song. It rightfully belongs to Parokya ni Edgar.

Hope you guys liked it! Lalo na un mga kapwa kong Pinoy dyan!

Happy Independence Day Philippines!

Please read and review!

Ow, I might write up a one shot since I've uploaded two chapters within two days.. (: so yes!

Again please don't forget to read and review!


	9. Chapter 8

Yo! Chapter 8 up! Wahaha... I've been having writer's block recently... And I kinda forgot what I wrote for the previous chapter so yes. Anyway, it's here now so there's no problem! Sorry for not updating for so long! Hope you like it!

* * *

(Me talking)

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

'Telepathic talking'

"Flashbacks"/ Flashbacks

_Conscience/ Inner self_ (whatever you'd like to call it)

Change Scene/Jutsu

* * *

Last time:

"_So you've talked to him?"_

"_What the... You were able to? That's just unfair!" Mikan replied_

"_Ah, no it was just a guess."_

"_Well it's a very smart one. Yeah, I was able to talk to him. I really miss him Rou..."_

"_We all do..."_

"_Of course you do!" A disembodied voice said._

Chapter 8

* * *

Back at the Academy (After Ryosuke and Zenshin were called out)

"Ne sensei, if I may ask, why were Kimura-san and Seshina-san called out?" asked a curious student

"Well I'm not entirely sure myself. But all I know is that they along with Naruto-sama had to attend to something important back in Konoha."

"Ano, sensei, I think I am asking in the behalf of the class in this but where and what exactly is Konoha?" Yuu asked their sensei

"Well, you are supposed to learn this from Kazemi-sama but I think a short over view won't hurt."

He paused to see if the class was really interested about this information and got expectant stares as a result.

"Well, not too far away from here, Tokyo, around 4-8 hours travel from here. Is the land that is known as the Shinobi Nation, it consists of the Land of Fire, Water, Wind, Snow, among others. In this Nation are the five most prominent Shinobi Villages, Konoha being at the top."

"So you're saying that Kazemi-sama, Naruto-sama and the others are all shinobi?" Kokoroyomi concluded

"Yes, but they aren't like the ninjas you hear about in stories. But that's a different story to tell. You can all ask these questions later when you have your special classes with them." Their sensei answered.

This resulted to the class chattering loudly. Most of them thinking things along the lines of, 'they're ninja which means that they've killed before, which means they can kills us too' and 'I bet they were called out to kill another person, scary'

But those who were smarter than the rest were thinking things along the lines of 'Ninja equals blood plus life risking missions. And they always have a reason behind their actions; we've read in a book before that they are fond of the saying 'underneath the underneath' so now, what is their purpose here in the academy? And does Mikan have any connection in this? What about the Anti-Alice organization?'

Just as these thoughts entered their minds, the PA system sounded.

_All faculty and staff please report to the meeting room immediately. I repeat all faculty and staff report to the meeting room immediately. The headmaster wishes to see us._

This caused confusion all over the academy.

"Okay class since we have a meeting I guess you're free for the rest of the day. Just wait for the announcements if ever."

And with that all the students went out of their classroom, all of them wondering why the headmaster called for a meeting in such short notice.

* * *

Meeting room

The room was full, all occupants wondering why the headmaster would call the meeting in such short notice.

The door opened to reveal the headmaster himself along with his secretary. All occupants then proceeded to their assigned seats and waited for the headmaster to start.

"Now I know all of you are wondering why I called a meeting in such short notice. But this is of utmost importance. You are all aware of the presence of Naruto Namikaze and company in the academy are you not?" Kaito said looking at everyone in the room.

"Hai, we all are aware of this sir. But what exactly is their purpose here?" Misaki-sensei asked

"That is exactly why I have called for this meeting. We have decided that it is high time that you are informed of the..._ situation._"

The way the headmaster said the word made the occupants of the room worry. Murmurs filling the room.

"And what exactly is this situation Kaito-sama?" Serina asked causing everyone else to grow silent

"Well I was about to get to that. I'd like all of you to learn of the history of the Shinobi Nation, not the history entirely but the vital information of its history."

(I'm just making this part up. None of it is true. I'm just basing this on the other fanfic I've read so far and my own imagination.)

"A million years before our time, demons roamed our world, however, Kami decided to create man and therefore men and demons lived together peacefully. However, one day there was one demon who got too powerful for the balance, Juubi his name was, and if you didn't figure it out, demons and men eventually mated with each other, and one of the most powerful who came to be from this was the Rikudou Sennin. He defeated the Juubi and sealed him off somewhere, however, this was not enough. So he sealed Juubi's body, and separated its powers."

"What came to be because of this were the nine great demons, it was then decided that demons and men would live separately, but as you recall, there were also those who had demon blood. And so, there were three separations: Makai, the demon world, our world, and the beginnings of the Shinobi Nation."

"Well that's basically the rough explanation of everything." Kaito said waiting to see if anyone understood what he was trying to imply.

"Kaito-sama, don't tell me..." Misaki-sensei voiced.

"Hai, the situation does in fact have something to do with demons. But that is not all, Uchiha Madara is the cause of all this."

"Uchiha Madara? How can that be? Isn't be supposed to be dead?" asked a random teacher

"Yes, yes we are all aware of that. But for one reason or another he is still alive and is still thirsting for power, since his attempt to revive the Juubi had failed he has now resorted to an alternative method. His thirst for power has led him to use desperate, but all the more threatening method. For he now controls a large number of lower demons and their number is not to be trifled with, they have enough numbers to do damage in the whole world. And their numbers would be great especially here in Tokyo."

This turned their eyes wide as plates.

"And this is the exact reason why the Shinobi Nations have united once again, in order to defeat Uchiha Madara once and for all."

"But sir, how are we to defend Tokyo when we only have a small number of us who are combat ready?" asked a staff member

"That is where Kazemi-san and company come in..."

* * *

Unbeknownst to the occupants of the room, just outside their door we find a group of curious cats listening just outside the door.

"Everyone shut up, I can't hear anything..."

"_... Ma... demon... here..."_

* * *

"They will be training us in combat... and everything else that needs to be known. You remember Angel and Demon? They will be part of this also. But in everything, Kazemi-san plays a vital role in this."

"And what exactly is she going to do Kaito-sama?" One of the teachers asked.

"She is going to go to the center, and hopefully close up the portal that will allow them to come into this dimension. If not, she'll have to face Madara, however if in that case, then the most powerful will back her up. It is very important that we succeed in defeating him, permanently, this time."

"I don't get why we can't just kill off all the demons that come in." Another one asked just as Naruto and the others appeared in the middle of the room.

"Sorry we are late Kaito-san, there were some… things… we had to attend to. If we may, I will answer the question for a better understanding for everyone." Naruto stated as they moved to their seats near Kaito.

"Please do so."

* * *

Once again outside the doors

"What in the world are they talking about?" Kokoroyomi complained

"Sssh!" The others chorused.

"… _Mi… vital role… kill…"_

* * *

Back inside

"As you have probably been informed, the number of the army that Madara controls right now is not joking matter. Neither are the abilities of Madara, he is a very powerful man. He may be ancient, but that doesn't mean he hasn't gotten weaker, in fact he has gotten stronger over the years, and the only way to defeat him is if a member of the Kyuubi clan will be able to access the tenth tail, this has not happened in many centuries; mainly because it takes _a lot _of will to be able to control the tenth tail, _a lot _of will and control." He paused to let them understand the weight of the situation.

"The last one who reached it was the previous Juubi, the sole reason why the 9 different demons came into existence. But out of all these nine, only the ninth has the ability to access it, because before Juubi, the strongest a demon could get would be at nine tails. He was tame at first, but the power and probably even the pressure got to his head and he went mad and went on a rampage, and the Rikudou Sennin did what he did and the rest is history."

"Anyway going back, since Juubi was a nine tail himself, only a _pure_ demon can access this, which is why Kazemi is the only one who can do it."

"With all due respect Naruto-sama, but isn't there anyone else? I mean Kazemi-sama is still young, and to face such a dangerous person is just… it's suicide!" Narumi commented

"I understand what you are trying to say Narumi-san. However it is part and parcel of our profession... as well as Kazemi-chan's position… I do not want her to do this either, she is like a sister to me, and even a daughter at times. But there is nothing I can do because she _is_ the only one who can do it, but I _know_ she will succeed; I have faith in her abilities. Wouldn't it be the same for you if that girl, Mikan, were in the same situation, if she has to face the Anti-Alice Organization, because she is the only one who has the power to defeat them?" Naruto said eyeing those he knew that were close to Mikan.

'_Naruto… I think that's enough, they might get suspicious.'_ Shikamaru told him through their link.

'_Nah, I don't think so. And it's also so that our uninvited audience would be set off._'

* * *

Outside the meeting room with Hotaru and the others

"What the… I don't understand anything!" Hotaru muttered angrily. Her thoughts reflected by those she was with.

"What exactly did you hear Imai?" Natsume asked

"They're talking something about demons, and some ancient man. And I've heard 'Mi' at least thrice. I've got a feeling this has something to do with Mikan."

"I'm not too sure about that Imai… I was able to get through once… it was barely even a second. But I managed to hear his thoughts. Sakura-san was only mentioned… but they've been talking about Namikaze-sama." Kokoroyomi informed them

"Is that really the only thing you heard?" Hotaru questioned threateningly.

"Yes… There's some sort of barrier in there. It got interrupted which is why I got in, but I was quickly cut off too." He nervously replied.

"What in the world are they talking about in there?" was everyone's thoughts

* * *

Back inside

"Now that is cleared up. I wanted to inform you that we have made a slight change in the plan. As Kaito-san might have already told you _everyone_ is to be trained. Be it a janitor, a teacher, or a student, everyone in this academy will have to learn how to fight. The ones who are too young will only be taught self defense, just in case they breach our defense line. Shikamaru is our head strategist, once everything is settled and everyone has been sorted out (as a medic, front liner etc) we will tell you what the plan is."

"Now… I think we have guests Kaito-san." Naruto stated

"Oh? Please open the door and invite our guests in." Kaito said a bit amused.

When the door was opened, they heard a loud thud courtesy of Hotaru, Kokoroyomi, Ruka, Sumire, Yuu, Anna and Nonoko, with Natsume standing behind them.

"I see you weren't taught not to eavesdrop." Persona stated.

This caused the group to blush making them quickly stand up.

"Hontou ni gomen nasai (We are really sorry)" They chorused [except Natsume of course].

"It's quite alright, you will find out eventually anyway. But do tell me, how much did you hear?" Naruto said with a small smile on his face.

"We barely heard anything Namikaze-sama…" Anna replied

"Oh? Very well then, just be patient… you'll find out soon enough. And please, Naruto is just fine."

"Hai, Naruto-sama…" they chorused

"Which reminds me, Kaito-san, with your permission I would like to call for a general assembly, we have more or less, hopefully more, a year left. We have to start immediately."

"Very well then, meeting adjourned. General Assembly will be held tomorrow morning at 09 00. Dismissed."

By this time it was already past dinner time and everyone was hungry so they all hastily exited the room with loud chattering.

However there were still those who stayed, namely Narumi, Misaki-sensei, the group of Hotaru, Naruto's group, and of course Kaito.

"What is it?" Kaito asked

"Headmaster, I've been meaning to ask… What has become of Mikan?" Narumi asked eyeing Naruto. "And how come they know about her?" He added pointing to their group.

Kaito and Naruto exchanged glances then looked at Ryosuke and Zenshin who nodded.

"I'm sorry, but we cannot tell you for now. All we can tell you is that she was sent in a place where no one can find her, to ensure her safety from the Anti-Alice Organization."

"You can't tell us? The hell you can't tell us! I am sorry for the rudeness sir, but it's been three years, all we get from her to know that she's still alive somewhere are letters! And she doesn't even tell us anything about what is happening to her!" Narumi blurted, hurt and sadness clear in his eyes.

"I agree with Narumi-sensei with that. What has happened to Mikan? Is she involved in all this? Why are we being trained by these guys? And what is this we heard about demons? You're hiding something important." Hotaru voiced

"You will find out everything tomorrow. Go eat your dinner now children, both of you also, Misaki, Narumi." Kaito said dismissively.

This just aggravated them, but they followed none the less.

They all then exited the room with a loud bang of the door with a sigh.

"It's sad that we have to hide the truth from them." Naruto commented

"Indeed… but it is for their safety also. So what happened?" Kaito asked

"She received numerous injuries, but do not worry though she will return in a few days. Obaa-chan sent some reinforcements with us. They are at the cottage right now. They will join us tomorrow at the general assembly."

Just then, a not so average sized wolf came entered [via the window].

'_Sorry for the intrusion. However, Roukan-sama has requested that you return to Konoha immediately Naruto-sama and Ryosuke-san. It is urgent.'_ The wolf informed them

This made them (Zenshin, Ryosuke, and Naruto) panic inside.

'_Thank you. We'll be departing immediately.'_

And with that the wolf left.

"What in the world just happened?" Kaito exclaimed.

"Something urgent has come up. I hope it isn't _that_ or we might be too late." Naruto voiced out. "Gomen-nasai, Kaito-san, but I must leave once again."

'Shit not _that_.' Thought the other two males

"Shikamaru you know what to do anyway. Take over for a while." Naruto ordered and signaled to Ryosuke to come with him and hiraishined out of there. This caused Shikamaru to say. "Tsk, troublesome."

Then there was thick silence.

"I can see why he was chosen as the next Hokage." Kaito said.

They only nodded.

"We'll be going then." Shikamaru said starting for the door.

"Erika-kun (Kaito's secretary) please inform everyone of the General Assembly." Kaito requested.

"Hai, Kaito-sama."

_Good evening every one. There will be a general assembly tomorrow at the theater at 09 00. Please be there on time. I repeat, there will be a general assembly tomorrow at 09 00. Everyone is required to attend. Thank you and good night._

And with this, murmurs filled out the school.

* * *

The next morning

The theater was filled with murmurs. All students, faculty, and staff were gathered; all wondering why they were there.

Then, Kaito entered the stage and everyone grew silent.

"Ohayo-gozaimasu, minna-san." He greeted. (Good morning everyone.)

"Ohayo-gozaimasu, Kouchou-sama." Everyone chorused. (Good morning headmaster.)

"Now, I am sure that everyone is wondering about why we have gathered here today. To explain this I would like to call on Nara Shikamaru-san."

Before going up that stage Shikamaru muttered his favorite word.

"Arigatou, Kaito-san. Now, we have requested for this general assembly because of a very important matter. But before that I would like to tell you a short story. Roughly five years ago the Shinobi Nation was attacked by a deadly force by the name of the Akatsuki, which was led by none other than Uchiha Madara."

This caused everyone to murmur, one of them voicing out: "Madara? Didn't he die, like, a few hundred years ago?"

"Well yes, that was what we all thought… until we saw him ourselves. His plans actually started 20 years ago; the day that Konoha was attacked by Kyuubi. But it was only after 13 years did he let his plans move into motion…. His goal, to revive Juubi."

Once again everyone started chatting. All talking something along the lines of: 'Juubi, the said Ten Tailed demon? Isn't that only supposed to be a legend?' And 'where the hell is this Konoha and Shinobi Nation anyway?'

This irritated Shikamaru. 'Mendoukusai… This is why I didn't want to do this. Baka Naruto.'

"SHUT UP!" He snapped.

Everyone went silent. Gai, Anko, Genma and Zenshin were all smirking.

"Ara, ara looks like he does have limits to his patience." Anko said.

"He lacks sleep that's why…" Zenshin voiced out.

"How can you say that it is impossible when the alices you have are supposedly impossible!"

This caused those who said that to lower their heads.

"Any questions will be entertained after. Now going back… Thankfully, we were able to prevent Juubi from reviving. Naruto was able to convince all the Hidden Villages to cooperate and all the jinchuuriki of the Nine Great Demons fought side by side and somehow he was able to convince majority of the members of Akatsuki, Madara's cronies."

"However, though we were able to prevent him from fulfilling his plan, we were not able to eliminate him; which brings us to the situation we have now. Oi, Kaito-san, take over please, this is getting too troublesome." Shikamaru finished

'That's the most words I've heard from him since like… ever' were the thoughts of his comrades.

Clearing his throat Kaito began.

"Thank you very much Shikamaru-san. Now the reason we have called you here is because, Madara has planned to attack the whole world. (Insert gasps from the audience) How does he plan to do this? He has taken control over the lower demons of Makai, the demon realm. Their number is not to be joked with for they can equal or even outnumber the Earth's population."

"This is why, starting tomorrow, besides your regular schedules, which would also be modified to lessons that would benefit our purpose, everyone is required to train to fight these demons. The younger ones, starting from the preparatory school up to the second graders will be taught self-defense. There will be exceptions of course. Like for those who have health problems and such. We have more or less a year to prepare."

"As of the now the main objective is to seal off the hole that allows the demons to enter our world from Makai and the one assigned this job is Kazemi-san. Since it is evident that a number of them would still be able to enter, which is why everyone is required to learn how to fight… in order to help Kazemi-san to get to the center and seal off the hole."

"Now, any concerns or questions please submit them to the class representative. Class representatives; please give them to Shikamaru-san so that they can give you answers. We will have another general assembly soon. Until then, be patient and wait for the answers. And more importantly, put your mindsets into saving our home. It is the only one we have. Dismissed!"

And with that everyone systematically exited the theater.

"Maa… this is going to get a lot troublesome."

"Stop complaining Shikamaru, everything's troublesome for you anyway."

* * *

And end!

Again sorry for not updating for so long…

So what did you guys think?

(Personally I think this chapter has too much dialogue... but it can't be avoided)

So please do read and review!

Ja ne!

-Reikaze Kazemi


	10. Chapter 9

Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed the last chapter... even if I still think it had a lot more dialogue than I expected. Ow well, here's the next one, hope you guys enjoy this too ^^ and I'm really, really sorry about the slow updates. Hontou ni gomen nasai!

* * *

(Me talking)

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

'_Telepathic talking'_

"Flashbacks"/ Flashbacks

_Conscience/ Inner self_ (whatever you'd like to call it)

Change Scene/Jutsu

* * *

Last time:

"_Now, any concerns or questions please submit them to the class representative. Class representatives; please give them to Shikamaru-san so that they can give you answers. We will have another general assembly soon. Until then, be patient and wait for the answers. And more importantly, put your mindsets into saving our home. It is the only one we have. Dismissed!"_

_And with that everyone systematically exited the __theater__._

"_Maa… this is going to get a lot troublesome."_

"_Stop complaining Shikamaru, everything's troublesome for you anyway."_

* * *

Chapter 9:

Konoha Hospital

"Obaa-chan!" Mikan called out

"Gaki (Brat)… I see that you're doing well." Tsunade said as she entered the room.

"Yes, of course I am, it's been two days already! Two days Tsu-baa, two days in the hospital! Can you please sign my release papers already? Pleaaaaase?" Mikan begged.

Tsunade stared at her, analyzing her condition before answering: "No."

(Insert falling down anime style with matching sweat drop)

'I just knew that was coming. Why'd I have to put my hopes up?' Mikan thought to herself.

"But obaa-chan!" She protested.

"No." Tsunade refuted sternly.

"Doushite? (Why?)"

"Sure you're all energized already, but that doesn't mean that your injuries have healed. I'm even amazed that you could be so energized after two days."

"Baa-chan, you seem to purposely forget that she's a demon right?" Naruto said as he entered the room.

"Nii-chan (Big Brother)!" Mikan said gleefully

"Ohayou Mi-chan." Naruto replied with a smile

"Yes, yes, I know that. But that doesn't mean that you don't need proper medical care, now does it?" Tsunade answered still looking through Mikan's medical record.

"You can be so stingy sometimes obaa-chan." Naruto replied

"Glad that you know."

There was a moment of silence and then…

"I know! Baa-chan, how about this? You let me stay at nii-chan's place to heal. I mean, my major injuries only have to heal right? I promise I'll be good." Mikan bargained

"Eh? Really now? And how can I be sure of that?" Tsunade replied disbelievingly

"Uhm… I promise I'll come by here every day for the check up. So pleaaase, just let me go? I don't want to stay here any longer." Mikan pleaded

"Shishou (Master), I believe that Mikan-chan would be better off healing up at Naruto-kun's place." Shizune offered winking at Mikan.

Silence

"Fine..." Tsunade hesitantly answered, "on the condition that you will not be training, or be doing any extraneous activities. Got that?" she sternly added.

"Haaii! Arigatou baa-chan!" Mikan enthusiastically replied moving to hug the well-endowed woman.

"And before I forget, you still haven't passed that mission report. So since you're so energetic, I expect to have it in my table by tonight." Tsunade added before leaving the room.

'Man, I knew it was too good to be true.' Mikan thought

"Hai, hai." Mikan replied.

"Mikan-chan, just wait for the release papers to be signed, but you'll be put in as an out-patient. So you have to sign that too. You can go and change now. Naruto-kun can help you with your bandages." Shizune said before leaving to follow Tsunade.

"Arigatou Shizune-nee-chan!" Mikan replied

Mikan slowly but surely got out of her bed (yes she was sitting on the hospital bed this whole time) with Naruto just standing beside her so that he could help her if needed.

"By the way nii-chan… where's Ryo-kun?" Mikan asked as she proceeded to get her clothes from the sofa opposite of the bed.

"Eh? Maybe I should have let him come here instead." Naruto said teasingly causing Mikan to blush. "Haha! You're just too cute imoutou. He's at the house with Roukan."

"Eh? Roukan is still here?" Mikan wondered

"Yeap, he says that he can't leave until you're fully healed. He was going on about some sort of rule or tradition the wolf family has." Naruto replied still following Mikan around.

"Oh, that's right I remember now. Anyway, I'mma take a bath already nii-chan. You can leave. I can do the bandages myself." Mikan said as she walked towards the bathroom.

"Nope, I'll wait here with you so that I can at least ensure obaa-chan that you _will_ reach the house." Naruto replied. 'Not that she'd fully trust me either. She'll probably have the ANBU she's assigned to me make sure that we get there.'

"Suit yourself. I'll be out in a jiff."

* * *

Later that day

"Waaaii! It feels so good to be out!" Mikan exclaimed as she stretched.

"Don't stretch too much Natsuki-sama. You might reopen your wounds." Roukan reprimanded.

"Hai, hai… Man why's everyone so worried about me? It's not like I just died and woke up from the dead." Mikan said a bit irritatingly.

'She doesn't even realize that she isn't even supposed to be alive' were the thoughts of her companions.

"Well you did get seriously injured Mi-chan. So it's a given that everyone's so worried about your well being." Ryosuke chided.

"Meeeh…" she whined.

"Anyway let's be on our way home. Obaa-chan wants you there A.S.A.P." Naruto reminded.

"She said A.S.A.P. not now. So can we at least stop by Ichiraku's? Please? I know you want to. Pretty please?" Mikan begged coupled with puppy dog pout.

'Not that. Please! Anything but that...' Ryosuke thought.

'Don't look, don't give in.' Naruto repeatedly told himself.

Unfortunately for him, Ino called his attention from behind Mikan causing him to get a glimpse of the all powerful puppy dog pout resulting to an eat all you can session at Ichiraku's all expenses paid by Naruto of course.

* * *

At Ichiraku's

"Waaa… so full!" Mikan exclaimed adding: "Arigatou nii-chan!"

"Yeah, you're all full but now Gama-chan's lost a lot of weight." Naruto said sorrowfully as he petted his precious Gama-chan.

"Yeah right. What about all the money Minato-shi and Kushina-shi (1) left you huh?" Mikan rebutted

"Who said I'd even touch that? I'd probably use that for Konoha instead for myself." Naruto countered

"Then what about all the bounty you got from the Akatsuki members?" Ryosuke rebutted

That made him silent.

He opened his mouth to say something but couldn't say anything.

This just resulted to the three laughing heartily.

"I'm glad to see you all well Mi-chan." Teuchi said cleaning up their plates.

"Maa, Teuchi-jiji we all know how Mi-chan is." Ryosuke pointed out

"Meh… I'm just glad I'm out of the hospital." Mikan said

"You never really told me why you despise the hospital so much. I mean it's not like you went through what _he_," points to Naruto, "went through." Ryosuke asked

'True…' the others thought

"Well… It's because the feeling of _death_ is so thick there. 'Sides you all know how much I'd prefer not to kill. If I really had to it'd be a quick and painless one."

There was a moment of silence.

"Anyway, we better get going before the shadows grow long." Mikan added

Translation: Let's get going before Tsu-baa gets impatient waiting for the report of the ANBU she sent with us.

"As all ways Teuchi-jiji… Thanks for the great food!" Naruto said as they proceeded to move out of the stall.

"Any time Naruto!" Teuchi answered back from the kitchen.

The trip to the Namikaze estate was uneventful. The villagers just bowing and smiling at the group whose presence couldn't be missed.

They arrived about 30 minutes after and upon their arrival there was a small barely noticeable burst of chakra signifying the departure of their 'shadows'.

(Okay, apparently my laziness is getting the better of me so I'm leaving it up to you to imagine how the place looks like. Sorry guys.)

"Well guys how 'bout we have some rabbit stew for dinner?" Mikan asked the group.

Her question made Naruto's eyebrow raise in question.

"It wasn't me! Really, the Konoha Wolves gave me and so yes."

"By the way, it's already cooked. It'd be great to eat right about now." Ryosuke added.

"What the hell? The wolf clan is really weird." Naruto commented

"Say's the guy who's named the 'Number 1 Most Unpredictable Knucklehead Ninja'." Mikan rebutted

"What the hell? How do you even know that?" Naruto exclaimed

"Kakashi-tou-chan…" Mikan replied ever so bluntly.

"Sigh, well that Ninja's going to be the Rokudaime – so HA!" Naruto rebutted

Everyone else just stared at him and started moving away.

"Oh you guys can be so mean!"

"Love ya too nii-chan! I'mma change now." Mikan said walking toward the bathroom.

"I'll get dinner ready" said Ryosuke as he walked away.

"Sigh, kids..." Naruto sighed plopping down on the couch.

"Tell me about it." Roukan responded climbing up on the couch resting his head on Naruto's lap.

* * *

Later that night (Midnight)

Everything was silent at the Namikaze Household, light breathing filling the air. A dark figure climbed out of a window, silently walking on the wall. (Well they are ninja you know.) Said figure was being followed by Roukan keeping on alert just to make sure they weren't being followed.

"Natsuki-hime, it would be best if we take the route that passes through the forest."

"I know Roukan. Help me summon Haku (not to be mistaken as Haku from the Wave mission). I have to get there as fast as possible." Mikan whispered.

"Natsuki-hime, it would be best if you summoned him in the forest. Suzaku-sama (Naruto) might notice."

Mikan nodded in response, silently running towards the forest behind the compound.

* * *

04 00 (4:00am) at Academy Grounds

Mikan, riding on Haku, and Roukan were entering the academy ground via the hidden entrance found in the northern forest.

Catching their breaths, Mikan decided they should rest up at _the_ sakura tree before they returned to the cottage.

"Haku, rest up first before you go, you've done a great job." Mikan said as she scratched Haku behind his ears.

Enjoying the view, the group rested in the comfortable silence.

Just a few minutes later, Mikan felt Roukan and Haku tense up, ears twitching. Subtly sending out her chakra, she checked who it was that decided to disturb their rest.

'Natsume…'

"Haku, you can go now." Mikan ordered.

And with that he disappeared, no smoke, no sound.

"Hyuuga…" Mikan voiced out.

"Namikaze…" Natsume answered as he came into view.

The first thing he noticed was the wolf beside her. It's fur almost glowing in the moonlight.

"Afraid? Don't worry he doesn't bite. Unless provoked that is." Mikan answered.

He didn't answer.

'_Natsuki-hime, genjutsu...'_ Roukan reminded.

'Ah, crap I almost forgot.' Mikan thought willing her genjutsu to be put up. 'Thankfully we haven't trained them yet so he couldn't have noticed.'

There was something he noticed though. It was the blood spots that were showing on her clothes and the bandages wrapped around her arms and legs.

'He's staring, crap, did he notice? Damn, I almost forgot that out of everyone in the group he's the one that been subconsciously accessing his chakra.'

"Something wrong Hyuuga?" Mikan snapped

"Hn…" he replied proceeding to sit at the spot behind her.

The once comfortable silence was changed into a tensed one – Mikan tense and Roukan slightly growling.

'_At ease, Roukan… it'll be fine…'_ Mikan comforted.

'_I don't know _why _you tolerate him_ _hime. But a traitor will remain a traitor unless he proves himself.' _Roukan responded.

Half ignoring Natsume's presence Mikan continued to rest up, accessing the nature chakra of the forest to help heal her reopened wounds.

Noticing the intake of nature chakra Roukan growled.

"Shush, Roukan. It can't be helped… You _know_ that I had to."

Natsume's eyebrow rose at this.

"Oi, Hyuuga. I've been wondering why you don't question my injuries." Mikan voiced out.

"Figured someone as _famous_ as you would've been doing _that_ kind of thing to scare the crap out of the higher ups…" Natsume responded.

His answer made her laugh - making Natsume's eyes widen with surprise.

'Why…? Even her laugh sounds so familiar.'

"No I don't do it for the Academy Hyuuga… My… predicament is because I've got something to protect. I'm a shinobi, a proud shinobi of Konohagakure… And I live by her principle, the Will of Fire" was Mikan's vague answer.

"What about you? Do you have something to protect?" Mikan questioned him as she stood up with a stagger.

Natsume hearing the stagger turned his head to check on her, an ounce of worry seen in his eyes but as he turned his head – she was already gone.

"_Do you have something to protect?"_ He repeated in his mind

'Do I still? _She_ used to be the reason why I continue with my missions. But now that's she isn't… I don't know. But Namikaze… her smile, her laugh… they seem so familiar but, different still.' Natsume thought as he unconsciously stared at the spot she was sitting in, where you could see the vivid red color of blood.

'As careless as she is too.' Natsume added as he walked away.

* * *

With Mikan

'Damn, I got a bit careless there. My wounds are open again, thankfully there's a lot of nature chakra around here to help me heal up.'

Seeing the obvious strain Mikan was putting on herself, Roukan whined.

"Maa, Roukan. I'm fine… I just need a bit of nature chakra and I'll be fine… 'Sides, you're here." Mikan comforted

"But Natsuki-hime…" Roukan attempted to argue

"I'm fine Roukan… What I'm worried about is if Natsume figured it out." Mikan said stopping to comfort her familiar, resting her forehead on his.

'If he finds out… It's either I tell them. Or I throw away my former identity, and continue on as the Princess of Makai, shinobi of Konoha.'

'_Mikan…'_ Natsuki said worriedly

'_I'll be fine Nat…'_

'Best I rest up a bit and take a shower. Man, the blood's crusted over already.' Mikan thought to herself as they continued walking towards the cottage.

* * *

Morning at Konohagakure

"SHE WHAT?" was heard all throughout Konoha.

"Mikan-san sneaked out at midnight apparently. We found this letter at her desk." The ANBU replied

"That brat…!" Tsunade exclaimed proceeding to rant on about stubborn demon brats

"Naruto-nii… I think it would be best if we leave now." Ryosuke whispered

"Think so too… Grab on." Naruto replied quietly making sure that Tsunade wouldn't notice their departure via Hiraishin of course.

* * *

Back at the Cottage

"Tadaima (I'm home)!" Mikan exclaimed as she entered the cottage.

"Okaeri… (Welcome home)" Shikamaru answered

"Eh… Mikan, you're back. Wait; don't tell me you snuck out again?" Shikamaru questioned

"Heehee…" Mikan sheepishly answered

"Oh, man… We're gonna get it from Tsunade-sama when she sees us." Zenshin voiced

"Oh you've said it Shika… Mi-chan get ready to get your skull opened when baa-chan sees you." Naruto interrupted coming in the room

"That bad huh?" Mikan replied slightly sweating

"Not to mention all the laps you have to do after you get all healed up and your extra training in Makai." Naruto threatened

"Really Mi-chan did you have to sneak out right _after_ she let you out? Really…" Ryosuke added

"Maaa… but…" Mikan pleaded

"Really Mikan…! Running off like that with your injuries! Look! It even reopened! Maa, it's a good thing obaa-chan taught me some basic healing jutsu. Come over here you. Really, you can get so careless. What would you do if your injuries got worse? You really have to look after yourself better." Naruto reprimanded as he started to heal Mikan's reopened wounds.

"And you Roukan, I can't believe you didn't even stop her!" He scolded Naruto

"Maa… Don't scold him kaa-chan(Naruto). It was my decision and 'sides, he can't refuse nor disobey me anyway."

"Maa, Naru-chan, cut the girl some slack will 'ya… Girl's got the world on her shoulders." Anko interrupted

"Anko-nee-chan! Thank you very much." Mikan exclaimed

"Speaking of… Change of plans Mi-chan… Everyone's gonna be trained, but don't worry. The only thing that's been changed with the arrangements is the added work load. For you three kids instead of just teaching that group you'll also be teaching the grade school students in self defence." Shikamaru explained

"Eeeh…? Grade School – Shika-nii that's like putting us in a long term D-rank mission with the daimyo's nephews!" Mikan complained

"Mikan-san! It is because your group's youthfulness is best suited for teaching those in their spring time of youth!" Gai exclaimed

"Gai-san your inside voice, please…" Genma begged

"Ah, gomen Genma-san… If I cannot use my inside voice I shall run 1000 laps around the academy with my hands! And if I fail to do that I shall add a boulder the size of this cottage!" Gai enthusiastically said causing his companions to sweat drop

There was silence in the room.

"Eh? Mikan-chan, why are you bleeding?" Persona said coming in with Zenshin

"Oh, Persona-nii, okaeri, oh you know the usual." Mikan answered

"Don't tell me you ran off from the hospital again?" Persona reprimanded

"Maa… It's not like you guys aren't used to it." Ryosuke interjected

"What he said…" Mikan answered

"Well that doesn't mean we have to like it otouto (Ryosuke)." Persona responded checking up on Mikan

"Really guys I'm fine…" Mikan tried to argue

"Well there's something in your eyes that says otherwise so what is it you troublesome girl?" Shikamaru answered

"Ah you got me… I got caught up by Natsume when I came back; which is why I'm not washed yet… and man the feeling of blood that's crusted over already really feels weird, so I'll be going and take a bath now." Mikan answered not meeting the eyes of anyone in the room or even looking at them as she went up to her room to grab some clothes and take a bath

"I guess he's still a sore subject to her eh?" Anko commented eyeing Mikan as she went up the stairs

"Well anyone from the academy is still a sore subject for her apparently. But I can't blame her, having to deceive her friends and everything." Zenshin added

"Ano… Minna… I think there's something that you should know…" Roukan voiced

"What is it Roukan?" Naruto answered with a serious look on his face.

"When we… encountered Hyuuga-san… there were certain things that might have made him suspicious. And well, hime decided that if they were to find out… it would be either she tell them the whole truth, or she throw away her identity as Mikan Sakura." Roukan said with a look of sadness in his eyes.

"Really… why do things have to be so rough on her" voiced Angel as she and Demon entered the cottage. (Refer to Chapter 2 for description)

"Ah, Angel… Demon… you've finally arrived I was thinking that you got lost on the way here." Naruto teased changing the atmosphere

This ticked the flame-haired woman.

"Well it's no thanks to Persona-teme… you just suddenly left us!" Angel accused

"Well it isn't my fault you can't remember… I mean really, you're age must be getting the best of you Angel." Persona bluntly said

"Why you…"

"Now, now let's not burn up the place… please…" Zenshin intervened

"Well I'm pretty sure everyone's tired from travel so it'd be best if we catch up some shut eye before we start tor… I mean training… everyone." Anko suggested

"I love that idea. So the usual arrangement…?" Naruto responded

Everyone else just nodded with the realization of how tired everyone was and proceeded to their rooms.

* * *

Yosh! So that's it for chapter nine! So please do tell me your comments and suggestions! I'll be happy to receive them! Again I'm sorry for the long wait. Hope you enjoyed! Till next time!

Ittekimasu!

-Kazemi Reikaze

(1) -shi : I'm not really sure but from what I've watched (Detective Conan) they use the honorific -shi when the person they're referring to is dead


	11. Chapter 10

Hey guys! I know I haven't uploaded a new chapter in a really, really, really long time and you all probably got sick of waiting and got mad at me or something but I'm here now and I'm super sorry! I've been working on this chapter and I just couldn't get satisfied with it. So I decided to cut it short and just make up for it on the next chapter.

Now without further delay, let's get started with Chapter 10 :]

* * *

(Me talking)

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

'_Telepathic talking'_

"_Flashbacks"/ Flashbacks_

_Conscience/ Inner self_ (whatever you'd like to call it)

Change Scene/Jutsu

* * *

Last time:

"_Eh? Mikan-chan, why are you bleeding?" Persona said coming in with Zenshin_

"_Oh, Persona-nii, okaeri, oh you know the usual." Mikan answered_

_..._

"_Well there's something in your eyes that says otherwise so what is it you troublesome girl?" Shikamaru answered_

_..._

"_Well anyone from the academy is still a sore subject for her apparently. But I can't blame her, having to deceive her friends and everything." Zenshin added_

"_Ano… Minna… I think there's something that you should know…" Roukan voiced_

_..._

"_Really… why do things have to be so rough on her" voiced Angel as she and Demon entered the cottage._

_..._

* * *

Chapter 10:

Once everyone was well rested (and finally agreed on going to academy to start the tor... I mean training) they decided to report in groups: Mikan with Zenshin, Ryosuke and Roukan; Naruto with Anko and Gai (because he was the only one who could keep them in line aka 'babysit' them); Persona with Angel and Demon; and Shikamaru with Genma and Kakashi, who said that he'd be arriving soon (which would be about 3 to 4 hours later).

"Mendokusai (troublesome), Kakashi-sensei's late as usual." Shikamaru said as he walked with his hands in his pockets.

"Maa, give him a break. He's probably looking for something to give Mi-chan, he hasn't seen her in a while you know." Naruto explained

"That still doesn't mean he can be 4 hours late! We should be done training the brats by now!" Shikamaru argued (OOC but waiting for 4 hours can get people cranky you know)

"Exactly why I wanted to be late... Well, later. Unfortunately, this gift has to be delivered immediately." Kakashi said as he poofed into existence.

"Kaka-tou-san!" Mikan said as she tackled Kakashi _almost_ causing them to fall into the ground.

"How come he gets to be called otou-san and I don't?" Naruto exclaimed pointing an accusing finger at Kakashi with watery eyes.

"Maa, Naruto-kun... It must be because I'm more mature (not to mention older) than you." Kakashi, who was still being hugged by Mikan, said as he ruffled Mikan's hair (Aww...!)

"I haven't seen you in forever!" Mikan exclaimed looking up to Kakashi's face.

"Well, I visited you in the hospital but you were unconscious, so I planned visited again only to find out that you already escaped." Kakashi replied giving Mikan his signature eye smile.

"Mi-chan, you can let go of me now." Kakashi said

"Eeeh...? But..." Mikan said with her puppy dog eyes

"If you don't I won't be able to give you your gift." Kakashi reasoned.

"Fine... but I'm sleeping beside you tonight!" Mikan bargained, causing Naruto to break down in tears saying that she never asked to sleep beside him yet, thus resulting to Shikamaru to pat his friend's back in comfort trying his best to mute out Gai who was shouting things about the flames of Kakashi's youth or something and everyone else to have a giant sweat drop behind their heads.

"Yosh...! I'm all energized now thanks to otou-san! Now let's go tor... I mean train those gaki!" Mikan exclaimed pumping her fist to the sky and then suddenly laughed... evilly.

'Talk about dysfunctional alright' was the thought of those around them.

"Wait... before we leave. There's something important that we have to talk about." Roukan voiced out. "It's about Natsuki-hime reclaiming her status."

Realizing what he meant about Naruto rephrased his statement.

"Mi-chan... you have to decide. Should they know about your true self?" He said monotonously yet with concern.

"Suzaku-sama is correct hime. You have to decide soon. The time for you to take your place as the heir of Suzaku-sama and claim your status as the Juubi no Ookami is soon and fast approaching."

Silence engulfed the room. The three seemed to stare down each other, waiting for someone to cave in, although no one would.

"I already came to that conclusion a long time ago nii-chan, Roukan. But my decision, I admit, would be very challenging. It could either let my masks crumble or give me more reason to wear them. But in the end, all that matters is that Sakura Mikan was never real. She was but another mask." She replied, her tone flat.

"But I must admit that it was a mask that affected the real me beneath everything." Mikan added avoiding eye contact.

"And your decision...?" Roukan prodded.

"I will continue on as Namikaze Kazemi. And I shall carry the same name in Makai, Kazemi. To show them that I am not the same person I was before they decided to wage war. Sakura Mikan died on a mission that eliminated the Anti-Alice Organization (AAO). She was accompanied by Persona, Naruto-nii and I. She chose to sacrifice herself for the success of the mission and most of all the safety of her friends. She died an honourable death."

"What of the details of this mission?" Persona questioned.

"All members were eliminated, branch quarters included. The mission occurred a week prior to the announcement. Operation commenced at 24 00h. With the information that was obtained from the rescue of Hyuuga Natsume (I don't remember which episode in the anime this was but it was there) the main headquarters was obliterated followed by the branches 3 hours later by Hyuuga Natsume and Namikaze Kazemi." Mikan... Kazemi stated, still avoiding eye contact. (From this point on I'll be referring to her as Kazemi.)

"Very well... and I am to assume that you will be using a blood clone that would last long enough to be cremated and seen by them?" said Persona

"Yes. I want this mission out of way as soon as possible." Kazemi said steeling her eyes

"Very well I shall inform the head master of your request."

"Troublesome girl... Guys we really have to go now. We still have to meet the headmaster." Shikamaru reminded the group.

And with a nod they all sunshined (body flicker) to the academy

* * *

At the Academy

"Kaito-san... Konoha Force (don't ask) reporting for duty sir."

"Ah... Kazemi-san... I'm glad to see you well. Although I would request that you abstain from heavy training for now. You can go on and start the mass training after lunch." Kaito replied

"I appreciate your concern Kaito-san but I can take care of myself." Kazemi replied with a small smile.

"Mi-chan... We should get going now." Zenshin said as he walked towards the door.

"I'll see you soon Kaito-san." Kazemi replied as she followed.

"Now, let's get on to business Naruto-san." Kaito said as he pulled out a map.

* * *

Cafeteria

Kazemi, Ryosuke, Zenshin and Roukan walked through the doors of the cafeteria – ignoring all the stares that they were receiving as they walked towards the special-star dining area.

Already expecting to see Hotaru and the others there, they gave their orders to Joe and thanked Emi for the tea.

"Emi-san, a separate table please... I don't want to intrude on their group." Kazemi added just as Emi was about to leave.

Bowing Emi disappeared to prepare.

"Ano, Kazemi-sama, it isn't a problem at all." Nonoko voiced out taking note of Kazemi's injuries.

"I insist, now if you please excuse us." Kazemi replied and proceeded to the table Emi prepared for them.

Once they assumed that Kazemi and the others were out of hearing range they all shared wondering looks.

"From what I can tell at least her entire torso is wrapped up in bandages." Hotaru voiced out.

"It's probably the reason why she wasn't around." Kokoroyomi concluded

What that implied was obvious to all of them. So, they turned their eyes to Natsume hoping that he would know.

"I don't know anything." Natsume responded to their stares.

His reply just confused them all.

* * *

With Kazemi and company

"It appears they are worried hime." Roukan said as he studied the group

"They shouldn't, it isn't their problem." Kazemi said a bit coldly.

"Mi-chan..." Zenshin and Ryosuke whispered.

"Sakura Mikan is dead. They'll have to understand that."

'She's really decided not to tell them.' Ryosuke thought.

'What would Fuyuki say if he saw her like this?' Zenshin wondered a bit of pain playing in his eyes.

"If that is what you wish hime." Roukan said although still worried about his master and friend.

"I know you're all worried about me and I'm telling you I'll be fine. It isn't like they're dead or anything. I still have you guys anyway. That's what is important now. But before anything else I have to focus myself on my duty." Kazemi said her eyes softening.

"But aren't they your friends too...?" Ryosuke asked

"Of course they are, all of you are my precious people... but for them I can only be a shadow. I can't get them too involved in this. They could be as stubborn as I am. If I'd tell them to stay put but they wouldn't listen. I know it's the same for you guys but at least with you I'm assured that you would live through it, but with them... I can't be too sure."

And then the bell rang.

"Well guys it is as they've probably announced already. As of today we begin mass training. Hyuuga, Imai, Nogi, report to the training field in 10." Kazemi announced

"Everyone else please assemble at the auditorium. Kaito-san will announce how you will be distributed." Zenshin added

And with that they disappeared, no leafs, no smoke, just an empty spot.

* * *

Later at the Training Field

"Mi-chan, are you really sure about this?" Zenshin asked out of concern

"I'm sure 'Shin and it's for the best. If they ever find out... we'll have to see after we get started with their training." Kazemi replied her eyes almost turning to steel

'There it is. This is how she gets when she gets a mission. Dammit, why'd she have to be the one? Why couldn't Naruto-nii-san do it?' Ryosuke thought

"If that was possible Ryosuke-kun then we would have chose him instead. But Suzaku-sama is much more needed here than in Makai." Roukan said knowing full well what Ryosuke was thinking.

"I know that, but it just seems so unfair to her." He replied

"You should know better Ryosuke-kun. We both know that she is the type of person who would find a way to get both what she wants and needs." Zenshin added

"Oi, stop talking about me as if I wasn't here you..." Kazemi said hitting them at the back of their heads (well except Roukan).

"Now you have to stop talking about it. They're coming." She added feeling three presences fast approaching. 'Obviously worried about being late...' Kazemi thought feeling the anxiety in their chakra.

When they were within hearing range she gave them a mischievous smile and said:

"Glad you could make it on time. You're even warmed up already. So I'm sure 100 sit ups, 50 push ups and 10 laps around this 1 kilometre radius circle would be nothing for you. So let's get started."

The trainees just stood there slacked jawed as they watched Kazemi jog towards the circle.

"I strongly suggest you get started now before she decides to add more and make sure you finish the exercises with yours truly." Roukan said trotting after Kazemi.

This caused the three to gulp and rush towards the two. Ryosuke and Zenshin shaking their heads in amusement saying: "Let the torture begin" with a huge grin on their lips.

* * *

An hour and a half later

The three lied down on the sweet soft grass of the field, their bodies glad that they were finally able to rest.

"So while you three are resting, let's talk about your training regiment for this month." Kazemi said

"Now let's talk about your current conditions."

"Hyuuga, as of now you, out of the three, are the most conditioned. More or less, equal body strength. Though not that much. But we'll change that. Good stamina, but at a low-chuunin level. Not to mention that you tire easily after you use that alice of yours. So I think we're gonna have to put you into close to mid range category so we can avoid using your alice."

The last comment made the Hyuuga wince at the blunt mentioning of his weakness.

"Nogi, you have good stamina but not good enough, I'm figuring around high-genin level. And your strength is around mid-genin."

"Imai, good strength but low stamina... strength between high-genin and low chuunin but your stamina is around low genin."

"Wait, chuunin? Genin...? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Natsume questioned a bit peeved, mostly because he was tired and irritated that he tired out so easily 'I shouldn't have slacked off when they stopped giving me missions.'

'Gah... I can't believe I have to explain this.' Kazemi sighed mentally

'_Ryosuke if you will.'_

"Well, in the shinobi nation there are five ranks, from lowest to highest (well technically), genin, chuunin, tokubetsu jounin (special jounin), jounin, and kage. And for description purposes, when a shinobi is described in terms of their skill, they can be ranked accordingly to either low, mid, or high." Ryosuke explained. "Aah, just so you can understand better, a gennin is about the strength of 10th to 7th kyuu, chuunin - 6th to 3rd kyuu, toku-jou - 2nd kyuu to 2nd dan, jounin - 3rd to 6th dan, and kage though least accurate is 7th to 10th dan."

The three just let the silence voice their understanding.

"Now going back, I know we said that we'd start you with history first and all that shit but things got complicated so we're gonna have to get on our third, hell even fifth, gear as soon as possible. You will later learn more about why we are doing this but for now keep in mind that we're doing this for everyone, and I mean everyone's safety." Kazemi continued looking at the three but not quite meeting their eyes.

"So for the next six months I'm going to put you through training that's gonna hurt so much you're gonna wish you've never been born. If you chicken out half way I'm not gonna allow you, I'll just make it twice as hard. So if you have any plans of backing out do so now."

The three felt an uneasiness wash over them as they were told what kind of training (torture really) they were going to be put through.

"I'll give you guys till dawn to think about it. Just know that whatever pains you'll be going through for the next 6 months would definitely be worth it. By the end of this, you'll be able to defend all your precious classmates from a thousand and even more if you work together. I'm sure none of you would want to regret that you were not able to protect those who are precious to you."

And with that Kazemi walked away without so much as a glance back towards them. Not even a word to her best friends.

'_We've been blocked off.' _Ryosuke mentioned to Zenshin and Roukan as he looked at them anxiously.

'_Don't worry about her. She'll be fine. With what's through her mind now I'm surprised she wasn't harsher with them.' _Zenshin replied looking at his best friend's retreating form with worry.

"Don't worry too much about her, she wouldn't appreciate it..." a voice said giving the three a start.

"Suzaku-sama..." Roukan said easing the group as they heard the name.

"Yo!" Naruto waved.

* * *

Please review!


	12. Chapter 11

(Me talking)

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

'_Telepathic talking'_

"_Flashbacks"/ Flashbacks_

_Conscience/ Inner self_ (whatever you'd like to call it)

Change Scene/Jutsu

* * *

Last time:

"_Kaka-tou-san!"_

…

"_Mi-chan... you have to decide. Should they know about your true self?"_

…

"_I will continue on as Namikaze Kazemi"_

…

"_Sakura Mikan is dead. They'll have to understand that." _

…

"_I'll give you guys till dawn to think about it … I'm sure none of you would want to regret that you were not able to protect those who are precious to you."_

…

"_Don't worry too much about her, she wouldn't appreciate it..." a voice said giving the three a start._

"_Suzaku-sama..." Roukan said easing the group as they heard the name._

"_Yo!" Naruto waved._

* * *

Chapter 11:

"Namikaze-sama/aniki…" the rest chorused

"Aniki, what are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to be with Anko and Gai (insert involuntary shiver here)?" Ryosuke asked

"Well, let's just say I left them to have some fun. Don't worry though I made sure to leave some clones just in case things get too out of hand." Naruto replied with a grin, barely suppressing the evil glint he had in his eyes.

Ryosuke and Zenshin could only sweat drop.

"Anyway, going back… I'm pretty sure you three trainees are probably thinking 'Why the heck are we doing this?' … I'm pretty sure it isn't off the mark either with what Mi-chan probably put you through."

The three could only nod.

"Hmm… How do I put this…? Basically this is all happening, because of Uchiha Madara's fucked up vision of peace. Not to mention the dude's a fucked up power hungry man who'd kill his own brother. So now we have to train you guys since he got this idea that it'd be pretty awesome to take over the entire world by using 'lesser' demons to fight bijuu (tailed beasts), well jinchuuriki (demon containers). And when I say lesser demons, well it's pretty much a broad classification, but basically it's everyone else who aren't protected or related to the bijuu, some of the werewolves, vampires, oni, you name them."

"Everyone else…? How many more is everyone else exactly?" Hotaru, always the quick thinker, asked

"In terms of power collectively… maybe around 10 or so Ichibi (one tailed demon)… but their numbers are probably around 10 billion or so, that's including some of the demons that reside in Earth since I'm sure that he'd take advantage of that as well. Well that was what they said… but we don't really put it in check since Makai is pretty much a free country anyway."

And by the time Naruto was done explaining the three were already gawking at him. Not only because of what he said, but also because of how he just seemed to casually talk about such a serious thing.

"You guys might want to pull your jaws up before something weird goes into your mouths." Ryosuke teased

They immediately closed their mouths. Ruka had his lips pressed into a thin line and blushing in embarrassment. Hotaru had her ever so present poker face, but if you looked closely enough you could see a slight red tinge on her cheeks. And Natsume, being Natsume just scoffed (coughed) and looked away.

"And how does this exactly relate to us?" Hotaru asked

"Well… since the last war at our continent we didn't really know there were other lands aside our own. It's only recently that we discovered you guys existed really. Persona being part of the few that we've met that didn't come from our part of the globe. And because of that, we found out that you guys somehow sort of mutated the natural ability to wield chakra and then turned into what you guys call alices."

"You said natural ability… but how come some alices harm the user?" Ruka asked giving a Natsume a fleeting look.

"Hmm… If I recall, you call it a limited alice. Anyway, our theory is that for one reason or another, those with a limited alice have youkai (demonic chakra/energy) integrated in their system. Either because they descended from a demon, or were exposed to it at a young age. Exposure at a young age could cause certain genetic alterations that would lead you to having an alice; ideally you have to be exposed to it at child birth to before you turn 5. Being exposed to youkai at the age of 5 and beyond is when you are most likely to have a limited alice."

"Hyuuga, I think descends from a demon. But he's more human than demon, so the youkai that comes with the demon heritage harms your body rather than help it. Your fire alice is quite strong so I'm going to go ahead and guess that you're either related to the dragons, the phoenix, or probably even the fox aka Kyuubi. If you're fortunate enough to be related to the fox…" '…which I think is the most probable one since you are a Hyuuga…' "You have me, since I became the previous Kyuubi's heir being his jinchuuriki and all that."

Silence took over the field as Naruto let his words sink in with the three. It was a lot to take in after all, finding out that you were going to get dragged into a war of a place you've never been to and only have heard of recently.

"Anyway, if you guys have any other questions you can ask these two or the talking wolf…"

"Suzaku-sama, please…" Roukan interjected knowing Naruto's playful nature.

"You didn't let me finish. The talking wolf called Roukan. Don't worry he won't bite, unless you're stupid enough to provoke him. And now I'll be off to talk to my cute little sister." said Naruto as he went off to the direction that Kazemi left.

"But, Naruto-nii-san…! You just said we should let her be!" Zenshin called

"I only said you shouldn't worry too much. Anyway, you guys go on and take the rest of the day off, eat some snacks or something. I'll go talk to her."

And he went off.

"And there goes Konoha's ever number one most unpredictable ninja. He was always such an impulsive child. Never could figure him out, gave up after awhile."

"Kakashi-san...! (I couldn't decide what the two boys would call him) What are you doing here?" Ryosuke said after he got over his shock. "And how long have you been standing there?"

"Maa, maa… I just dropped but to pass on a message from Angel-san. She wants us all to be back home by dinner so we can have a party of sorts. I didn't really get the reason, but all I remember were stuff that had to do with Naruto becoming Hokage and Mi-chan's training." Said Kakashi not even looking at them (he was reading his smu… book what do you expect?)

"Got it… We'll see you then."

"Ja ne." said Kakashi leaving in a plume of smoke.

"So how about we go somewhere and have some coffee or something?" Zenshin suggested turning to the three who were nearly forgotten, only to find them spacing out. 'Probably going over what they were told.'

Roukan, hungry, became impatient and decided to leak a bit of his youkai and bark/growl at the three to get their attention.

Natsume, the first to notice the malicious feeling that came with the youkai, nudged the other two to snap them out of their musings.

"As I was saying, how about we go have some snacks and coffee somewhere? Your choice…" Zenshin said with a smile.

They (Ruka and Hotaru) only nodded in response and started to lead the way towards central town.

* * *

With Naruto and Kazemi

Kazemi stood in front of a cherry blossom tree, panting. She decided to get her mind off things by going through a series of forms one style after the other in speeds your average martial artist couldn't follow.

"Dammit!" She cursed giving the tree a light punch. (Trees have feelings too you know)

"Mi-chan…!" Naruto called out. "I knew that I would find you here…" he said giving her a small smile.

"Nii-chan…"

Naruto frowned slightly at her response at hearing the distress and sadness in her voice. He reached out and hugged her letting her head rest on the crook of his neck.

"I can't say that I know exactly how you feel right now. But I know that I could understand. It's hard to have to turn your back on the people you care most about, even more if your relationship with them ended in a sour note."

Kazemi's eyes widened at his words, realizing that even until now he still cared for his two former team mates.

They stayed like that for a while. Kazemi just enjoying the warmth of being in the embrace of the only family she had.

"It's just so painful to have them right at arm's length but you know that you can't get any closer to them." Kazemi said with a sigh as she let go.

"But no one's stopping you from forming bonds with them as your new self… Besides just because you can't tell them the truth about you doesn't mean that you can't be with them." He replied messing up Kazemi's hair causing her to pout.

"But what if they find out that I'm lying to them? What if they won't like the fact that I'm actually a demon? What if…?" said Kazemi clearly getting anxious.

"Ah…!" Naruto stopped her talking putting his hand over her mouth. Once he was sure that she calmed down he took his hand back and lightly pushed her down to sit, her back leaning against the cherry blossom tree. Sitting down beside her he said:

"Baka (stupid), there's no reason to hate you just because you're a demon. Why because they'd think of you as a freak? Mi-chan, if they'd think so then they're just as much as a freak as you are. I mean this entire school is made up of some of the weirdest people in their society, you aren't really any different. You just come from a different world (so to speak)."

Kazemi just smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you tou-chan. (1)" she whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

Naruto's eyes widened hearing her call him father for the first time, and then smiled softly seeing that she had fallen asleep. So he shifted his legs and pulled her into a more comfortable position and wrapped his arm around her protectively.

* * *

With Ryosuke and the others

The group sat outside a café just outside the town center, it was easy to find but if you didn't know about it your chances of finding it would be slim. A perfect place to have a relaxed talk about things not meant to be heard by the general public.

'_It seems they still have questions.'_ Roukan, who transformed into his human form, told the other two.

'_So it seems… fortunately for us we have you to answer all their questions.'_ Ryosuke replied giving Roukan a grin.

Roukan inaudibly sighed. 'Lazy brat…'

'_I heard that.'_

'_You can't deny it though.'_ Zenshin teased

"Why does Roukan-sensei call Naruto-sama 'Suzaku' (2)?" Hotaru as always, asked bluntly.

"It's his name in Makai. It's a name passed down to each generation by the leaders of the Kyuubi clan." Roukan replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "His case is different but basically it's like that."

"Then what about Kazemi-sensei…? Do you call her a different name too?" Ruka asked curious about their mysterious teacher.

"Yes." Roukan replied hesitating to reveal such information about his master seeing as the three looked as if they expected him to tell them about it.

"You'll only tell us things we ask about wont you?" Natsume butted in noticing the hesitation in Roukan's eyes.

"I'm not inclined to saying things you don't need to know." Roukan replied looking at the Hyuuga square in the eyes.

"Hn…"

'_Definitely an Uchiha ancestry this one...' _Ryosuke said grinning.

"Then tell me about those injuries she has…" Natsume said not backing down from the eye contact.

"You are undoubtedly a straight-forward person – though I wonder if you were the same with personal matters." Roukan said in a challenging tone.

'_Bull's eye...' _ the group collectively thought – Natsume wincing inwardly.

"Just answer the question."

"Much like how you are sent on missions, hime also gets sent on missions though unlike you. She gets her mission requests from Konoha. Ryosuke-san and Zenshin-san are also the same."

"With all due respect Roukan-sama, one does not simply (9gag) get such a number of injuries from _just _a mission." Hotaru almost snapped.

"Ah, then it is wrong for you to presume that she would be sent on such simple missions that entail information procurement and elimination of a small building and such. Those kinds of missions are child's play for someone of her caliber."

"Then what kind of mission was Kazemi-sama sent on?" Ruka asked calmly.

"Classified…" the three chorused.

"Oi… you know it's rude to talk about people when they aren't around." Kazemi said as she and Naruto walked towards the group.

"Okaeri (3)... What made you say we were even talking about you?" Ryosuke said to Kazemi.

"Tadaima (3)… Gut feeling… Anyway, I'm hungry. Where's the waiter when you need him?" Kazemi said as she squeezed herself in between Ryosuke and Zenshin.

"It's probably a self-service kind of café. I'll go order, let me guess – apple pie and hot milk tea?" Naruto told Kazemi (At this point I actually went to make myself some milk tea. Just saying…)

"Yes please." Kazemi said enthusiastically, her smile almost reaching her ears.

"Finally…! You smiled…" Zenshin teased

"Mou… that's mean 'Shin..." Kazemi pouted lightly hitting Zenshin's arm.

"It's true though. This is the first time you've smiled like that all day." Ryosuke added.

And the three continued to argue ignoring the company they had. Roukan just had to shake his head at their behavior.

Naruto arrived a few minutes later with food and drinks just enough for the group. He set the food down ignoring the three as it was a common thing they did.

"So, I presume you three still have questions?" Naruto told the other three teenagers after he set down all the food.

Ruka looked at his two friends, his eyes saying "should we ask him about _that?_"

Ryosuke, though still bickering with his best friends, noticed this and kept an ear out.

'_Ears open guys. We might have to back up Naruto-nii with their next questions.'_ He told them.

"Ano sa… We were talking about missions a while ago and…" Ruka stuttered

"We were wondering if you've heard anything about someone named Sakura Mikan." Hotaru asked her face almost blank except for the fact that she was enjoying the free sweets Naruto got them.

For a split second the four involved froze but quickly willed it away and continued what they were doing before.

"Mikan… The name does sound familiar but I haven't seen her around much. Why do you ask?" Naruto lied through his teeth.

"She's my best friend. She went away to be trained and we haven't heard anything about her whereabouts since. She'd send some messages but it never has any post marks nor does she write about where she is." Hotaru, still, monotonously said though with traces of worry and anxiety in her voice.

'Dammit, don't make this harder for me.' Kazemi thought her eyebrows scrunching up minutely.

"Is that so… Well if she was brought out to be trained then I think it's pretty reasonable to leave out her location. I've heard that you've had this dispute with an organization of evil alice people. So I'm pretty sure that it's just a safety precaution in case the messages get intercepted." Naruto said in a matter-of-factly tone

"What did you say her name was again?" Zenshin asked leaning on the table, showing them he was interested.

'_Time to get your acting skills guys.'_ Kazemi told them.

"Sakura Mikan. Brown haired... Brown eyes... She likes keeping her hair in a pony tail." Natsume stated remembering the time when he first saw her with a pony tail (episode 16), and later when they were 12 and she stopped tying her hair in pigtails after he told her that she looked better with a pony tail or with her hair down.

Kazemi who was observing Natsume as he spoke noticed how he fondly said the last part.

'So he did notice it back then. Man, I must've been so dense.'

'_You still are.'_ Zenshin told her teasingly glancing at Ryosuke.

'_Shut up.'_

"Well, there are a lot of brunettes in Konoha and brown is also a common eye color. But I think I've seen her name before. Ryo-kun do you have your Bingo book with you. We could probably find her there." Kazemi said discreetly avoiding eye contact with Hotaru.

Ryosuke then proceeded to unseal said item and started to look through the contents – all three of them trying to get a peek at the book.

"Okay so let's see… Yamashiro… oops too far… let's see… Umino… Uchiha… Terumi… Tatami… Shiranui… Sarutobi… There…! Sakura Mikan… birth date January 1… Female (you don't say)… about 160 cm… age 15… 46 kg… Blood type O… Team unknown… Rank… Chuunin… Does that sound like her?" Ryosuke read.

"Yes. That's her. So have you heard anything about her?" Hotaru asked anxiety quickly leaking into her voice.

"Well Persona-nii brings her around to spar or training sometimes but since we've been busy for the past few months we haven't seen her." Kazemi replied

"Why don't you ask Persona?" Naruto suggested innocently

"I don't really think that's a good idea…" Ruka replied nervously.

"Well last I heard she was going on a long term mission somewhere." Kazemi stated

"Ah. Now I remember, Tsu-baa assigned her to my squad once it was one of the first few missions we got out of the continent, not to mention our first encounter with your abilities. I met Persona when he was meeting one of Ero-kyoufu's (godfather) contact back in the day and they've kept in contact ever since. We never knew Persona had an alice until he came to Konoha and requested for a mission." Naruto told Hotaru stating facts this time.

"Imagine our surprise when we found out about it. I'm pretty sure if Sarutobi-jiji were still alive he'd help Tsu-baa in researching on how you guys got your abilities." Naruto said smiling fondly at the memory of the renowned Professor.

"You're getting off topic nii-chan." Kazemi warned.

"Anyway… if anything it would be best if you asked Persona about it. He is her sensei after all." Naruto said giving the three a comforting smile.

"You guys shouldn't worry about her too much either. Persona's good too. He's ranked as a special jounin in Konoha he can take care of her. He isn't a bad person either when you get to know him." (Imagine Persona as a tsundere character lol)

"If you say so…" Hotaru said still not satisfied. 'They didn't really tell us much. Only that she's probably a lot more powerful now. Mikan… where in the world are you? We need you back… especially…' Hotaru thought her eyes glancing over to Natsume.

"It's getting late now and I think it would be best if we leave now and get some rest. I am sure that Imai-san, Nogi-san, and Hyuuga-san are all tired from training." Roukan voiced effectively distracting the group's whirling thoughts.

Being reminded of the training they had to go through and will be going through for the days to come said three's bodies remembered how tired and aching they were.

"Yes. We should get going now…" Hotaru said slowly standing up "Thank you for the meal Naruto-sama. We'll see you tomorrow sensei." And with that the trainees left.

"Well that couldn't have gone any better." Roukan voiced as they left their sight.

"I think we handled that well. But I think they'll start asking more questions now." Kazemi commented

"Since now they know who to ask and it's been two years I'm sure that they won't hesitate in asking. Though since we told them that Persona would know about her whereabouts best they'd be a bit more hesitant since he has a certain… reputation with the students." Naruto added.

"I've already told you this but I think it would be best if they didn't know about the truth. Only if knowing about it would be vital to the situation would they be told of the entire truth. It's for their safety also." Kazemi replied.

"If that's what you want Mi-chan you know we'll support you all the way." Naruto encouraged patting her head in encouragement.

The gesture caused Kazemi to pout though more in a playful manner than in complaint.

'_Be thankful that they know you well enough not to push with the right things they think you should do_ _instead.' _Natsuki said

'_What can I say; I'm lucky to have them as my de facto family.'_

* * *

Later that evening

"You guys are finally back. I've been waiting." Persona said as the group entered the house.

"You've been here how long…? And you didn't even bother to cook dinner?" Kazemi all but scolded raising an eyebrow and folding her arms in front of her chest.

"Maa, maa… I'm sure Persona has his reasons." Kakashi reasoned still casually reading his book.

"You guys abuse my love and care for you. But I know you love my cooking so I'll just let this slide."

Sighing in relief Persona straightened up, his posture showing the seriousness of what he was about to say.

"Mikan..."

Kazemi almost jumped at her former name being said her whole body tense. She was actually very much shocked and scared causing her to almost literally freeze in her steps not only because of the name itself, but because of the commanding and heavy way Persona had said it.

"Persona-sensei…" she managed to voice out her mind automatically registering what this meant.

A few seconds passed by and there was silence in the room. Kazemi's initial shock having already faded she stood tall and at attention in front of her brother-slash-mentor.

"I have talked with Kaito-san about the AAO purge. He has given us the go signal and are allowed to deploy at the soonest possible convenience though he said I and I quote 'if possible I'd like to get this over with within the week' but he also stated that if need be we may proceed at your own discretion." He announced keeping his voice low and even tone.

"And the mission parameters…?"

"None, he is giving us the all go on this. Kaito-san expressed his encouragement with eliminating the organization entirely as they would be a liability if we leave them unattended and focus on Madara. So it would be best if we remove any big thorns at our side while the bigger problem is just at the horizon."

"Very well…" Kazemi replied steeling her resolve and her heart for what she was expected to do.

"When do we set out?" Zenshin asked getting an incredulous look from Kazemi.

"Well you never did say that we weren't allowed on this… besides even if you told us to stay out we'd still go anyway." Zenshin replied with a mischievous grin on his face.

Kazemi could only shake her head and smile softly.

"We set off at dawn."

"So much for having a party." Angel sighed

* * *

(1) I don't really know how to explain it but changing the honorific at the end (like how she calls Kakashi 'otou-san' and Naruto 'otou-chan') sort of tells you how close their relationship is and a certain level of respect. She feels that Naruto is closer to her as family since she also sees him as a brother figure thus calling him 'otou-chan' instead of 'otou-san'.

(2) I know that Kyuubi is actually called Kurama but for consistency's sake I'll keep calling him Suzaku.

(3) "Okaeri" & "Tadaima" are usually used when someone comes home. "Tadaima" meaning "I'm home" and "Okaeri" meaning "welcome home". But in this case Ryosuke and Kazemi use it as "welcome back" and "I'm back". I used it because I wanted to know the family bond they have since this kind of thing is used in a family household.

* * *

A/N: And that's it for this chapter and I'm sorry. I said I'll upload this chapter a few days after the last one but well a lot of things have happened to me lately. I don't really want to bore you guys with some sob story. But the thing is I just lost someone really important to me and I find it ironic that it happens just when I'm about to write my first death in any of my works and he was in the military so I'm gonna have a hard time writing the next chapter as I get so emotional when I think of how I'm gonna go about the next chapter. But don't worry I've already got this whole story planned out in my head so I _will_ finish this. Just give me some time to collect my thoughts and maybe some courage to write out the next chapter.

So again I apologize for the delay shortness and maybe even sub-standard chapter. I hope you guys forgive me. I'll try my best to get the next chapter out as soon as I can. Thank you for all the reviews, alerts, and favorites I really appreciate it.

So till next time,

Reikazemi "Rai"


	13. Chapter 12

Standard disclaimer applies. I only own Kazemi, Ryosuke, Zenshin, Roukan and the plot of this story.

Hey guys! I'm finally back! Thank you all for patiently waiting for me to update and also for all the reviews and adding me and/or this story to your alert and/or favorites list.

And before getting on with the story I'd like to greet you all a Happy New Year! Not to mention that it's also Mikan's birthday (in my timezone at least).

So anyway on with the story.

* * *

(Me talking)

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

'_Telepathic talking'_

"_Flashbacks"/ Flashbacks_

_Conscience/ Inner self_ (whatever you'd like to call it)

Change Scene/Jutsu

* * *

Last time:

"_Hyuuga, I think descends from a demon. But he's more human than demon…"_

…

"_I only said you shouldn't worry too much. Anyway, you guys go on and take the rest of the day off, eat some snacks or something. I'll go talk to her."_

…

"_It's just so painful to have them right at arm's length but you know that you can't get any closer to them."_

…

"_Mi-chan, if they'd think so then they're just as much as a freak as you are."_

"_Thank you tou-chan…"_

…

"_We were wondering if you've heard anything about someone named Sakura Mikan."_

…

"_Why don't you ask Persona?"_

…

"_He has given us the go signal and are allowed to deploy at the soonest possible convenience…"_

…

"_We set off at dawn."_

* * *

Chapter 12:

Dinner was almost silent. The word being – almost. There was an undeniable tension in the group as they waited to eat. No one even dared to interrupt Kazemi as she prepared dinner. Whenever someone would even come almost a few feet near the counter she'd give them a small smile… a small I'm-gonna-gut-you-out-with-whatever-I'm-holding-if -you-come-any-closer kind of smile. Needless to say whoever was at the receiving end of the gesture would do what they had to and high-tailed out of there.

"Man, Mi-chan sure is scary when she's in her 'I'm trying to relax by cooking' mode." Kakashi, who almost forgot the unspoken rule and was on the receiving end of aforementioned smile for 3 seconds, said feeling a shiver run up his spine recalling the incident.

"It's unavoidable given what we're set to do later. I'm pretty sure that there are a lot of things going through her head right now. She's probably even thinking on how we're gonna go around the mission. Given the mission parameters, or should I say lack of parameters, then I can guess that she's going to exploit every corner and resource that we can get on this." Naruto replied as he wrote out seals, modified explosion seals.

"You're pretty chirpy despite the situation at hand. What happened?" Kakashi questioned raising his only visible eyebrow.

Naruto only grinned in reply (refer to previous Chapter 11).

Kakashi – being Kakashi – just shrugged his shoulders and continued on reading. (Kakashi is never without his book.)

Any of the next conversations that happened in the room was just small talk. Everyone knew the significance of the mission – not only to the academy, but to Kazemi as well.

After cleaning up, the group gathered around the dinner table.

"So what's the plan?" Ryosuke asked Kazemi encouragingly

"The actual plan will start in the evening, but I want us on the move in by dawn. Originally I planned to just take them out but I realized with that approach we'll end up with a lot of loose ends. So we have approximately about 20 hours to infiltrate and gather the needed information."

"Why not earlier, like at 18 00 or even 17 00?" Shikamaru asked, not because he disagreed, but because he wanted to know if they were thinking along the same lines.

"Because at 20 00 hours is when they would be most lax, as they have just finished eating dinner and start to relax and it is the most likely hour when guards are going to be switched for a new shift."

"Though I've got an idea why you want us to go in so early, could you please just tell us?" said Anko getting a bit impatient (what with all the nerves and probably excitement pushing her to be so).

"I was just getting to that before Shika-nii interrupted." Kazemi replied with Shikamaru muttering "troublesome" under his breath.

"So just like any other mission we have. We first have to infiltrate and gather information. But we'll be hard pressed with time and we won't be able to communicate all that much but what we have in our table is the best of the best so we've got a pretty high rate of succeeding despite all that."

"There will be 15 of us, being all here present plus two, namely Hyuuga Natsume and Sakura Mikan. I'm pretty sure that Hyuuga's got his suspicions on why he hasn't gotten a single mission for the past months and this would be the answer."

"Now moving on to the mission and that is to eliminate the AAO permanently. Though the only outpost that the AAO knows we're aware of is the one where Sakura Mikan and co. successfully rescued Hyuuga (1), which was infiltrated and is currently being covertly operated by our own people without AAO knowing any better. We've got tips from very reliable sources that they've got 7 other outposts oh so conveniently located in the 7 other directions of the compass from the center of Tokyo which ladies and gentlemen is the Imperial Palace."

"Now we haven't gotten any solid evidence, but I'm pretty sure that that's where they're hiding the main operations too. It's pretty sly if you think about it that they choose to hide in plain sight. Now our people stationed at the outpost in Kachidoki (south east) will handle whatever outpost there is in the east, south east, south, and south west side which leaves the center, north, northwest, west and north east sides."

"The pier where Hyuuga was found was about 45 miles away from the imperial palace. So we also assume that the rest of their satellite bases are also away from the center at that distance. Persona-nii I believe you have your calculations of the areas?" Kazemi questioned motioning Persona talk.

"Hai… Just so everyone is aware going through the direction clockwise starting with South East: Kachidoki, South: Shiba, South West: Hiroo, West: Yoyogi, North West: Toyama, North: Hakusan, North East: Kuramae, East: Nihonbashinakasu, and of course the centre: Kojimamachi." As he talked he encircled all the places with a red marker indicating the area that was going to be searched.

"Thank you. Persona-nii, so with Kachidoki, Shiba, Hiroo, and Nihonbashinakasu out of the way we only have to worry about five other locations. While everyone gets ready and gets some rest, Kaka-tou-san, I want you to send your dogs paired with Naru-nii's clones to find the exact location of the outposts."

Nodding in response, Kakashi summoned his pack of ninken (ninja dogs) and Naruto summoned 10 clones. After briefly explaining to the pack what they were to do, Naruto and Kakashi dismissed them and they set off.

"Once we're in, the objective is to find any information – if they have any other outpost, be it with in the country or even outside. Or any kind of information we can get on them just in case there will be any survivors that would even want to try anything funny against the academy."

"So anyone want to volunteer for the locations?" Kazemi asked

"North West, I'll take Kakashi-sensei and Shika with me." Naruto almost immediately replied

'North West is the closest one to the center, so we can immediately rush to Mi-chan once we're done. I'm sure she'll need us beside her.' Naruto thought with Shikamaru and Kakashi thinking of something similar. They each caught each other's eyes and nodded in silent agreement.

"Then me, Zenshin and Roukan will take north." Ryosuke replied a bit disappointed that Naruto had beaten him into taking the closest location to Kazemi.

'It's not that far… if I run at top speed I could get there in time.' Ryosuke thought with a frown.

'I'll just talk to him later.' Zenshin thought as he noticed Ryosuke's frown.

"West for Demon, Angel and I…" Persona replied

"Then that leaves North East for me, Genma and Gai." Anko added with a sadistic grin.

'I already feel bad for whoever comes across Gai and Anko.' Everyone immediately thought.

"And of course I'll be taking the center with Hyuuga."

"So we set off at 04 00 so by 05 00 we should be at our appointed locations. Now since all teams except Persona-nii's have people who have summoning contracts I expect us to keep in contact that way. Using communicators or mobile phone is risky since they can easily intercept that with their own technology. I think it would be best if Naruto-nii would loan one of his toad summons to aniki since other than the ninken (let's just ignore the fact that they have vests and head protectors) it's the most inconspicuous of the summons we have."

"I'll just have the advance party stay put. One of Naruto's clones can just dispel themselves anyway to relay the information. Then the other clones can just Henge (Transformation Technique) themselves into frogs or what not. His Henge is solid after all and barely detectable after all." Kakashi suggested

"Good point. Let's just go with that. So it's already 22 30, I think it would be best if we get some sleep before setting out. Just make sure all your things are ready so we can immediately set off."

Everyone nodded their heads in confirmation.

"Aniki, I think it would be best if you informed Hyuuga now of the mission. Tell him to either dye his hair or get a wig and get contacts." Kazemi suggested

"I was about to do it anyway. You should go sleep now. You have to wake up early to summon the blood clone. I'll tell Hyuuga to meet us at the gate at exactly 04 05."

"Yup, thank you." With that Persona disappeared in a puff of smoke and everyone else went to their rooms.

* * *

Later at 03 05h

All occupants of the hidden lodge were already awake and getting ready. Kazemi along with Roukan were outside for a light warm up and preparing the seals for the blood clone, respectively. (Roukan using his tail to paint the seals)

"Hime, everything is in order." Roukan called

"Thank you, go inside now and grab something to eat. I can handle it from here."

After placing a pint of blood at the center of the seal and directing her chakra towards the seal, Kazemi made several hand seals and finishing with Hitsuji (Ram). The seal started to glow a deep blue color with tinges of silver, at this point she started to will her chakra into the image of Sakura Mikan. And after a few seconds the seal seemed to suck in the blood that was placed at the centre and the glow changed to vermillion and then the air shifted and in place of the seal stood Sakura Mikan clothed in urban camouflage cargo pants, a white v-neck shirt, topped with a dark grey, high-collared coat and black combat boots. On her back was the standard ANBU ninjato and on her hips was a pair of black 50 caliber desert eagles. (So instead of referring to the clone as 'the clone' I'll just call her Mikan, since essentially she is Mikan.)

It was already 3 30 when she finished looking over her clone, Mikan, not needing to tell her what she had to do as she is after all her clone so she would already know what was needed.

They went inside and ate breakfast with the others. By 3 47 they were done eating with Ryosuke and Zenshin cleaning up. Kazemi handed Mikan a mandarin orange stone and necklace with a pendant of a sakura petal engraved with the kanji character of 'hi' (fire) and a silver ring looped around it.

"I didn't know you still carried that around with you." Naruto commented.

"I'm surprised myself that I did, but despite everything it holds a lot of memories for me." Kazemi replied

"So why let go of it now?"

"Even though I doubt that they would suspect anything, this would be enough proof for them to know that it really is me. And also to show Natsume that I still cared for him."

Kazemi's use of Natsume's name didn't go unnoticed, but no one decided to comment.

"So you do still care for the prick." Ryosuke suddenly voiced

"Why, are you jealous?" Mikan rebutted

"Ba-ka, of course I'll still care. He's still a friend after all." Kazemi quickly added to avoid the obvious.

This reply caused Ryosuke to grumble something no one (except probably Roukan) could quite catch and Kazemi to frown at Ryosuke's reaction.

"Now, now, this isn't the time for your lover's quarrel we have a mission to do." Anko said teasingly

"We are not lovers!" Kazemi, Mikan and Ryosuke chorused.

"Whatever. We should set off now." Anko said waving off the two.

It was 03 59, so the two just sighed and nodded.

"Yosh…! Let our flames of youth burn brightly!"

Persona (in his Serio get up, only having red hair and hazel eyes), Angel and Demon took off first. They were followed by Genma's team, then Naruto's team, Kazemi's team and lastly Ryosuke's team.

By 4 05 they were at the gates with Natsume waiting for them wearing dark grey cargo pants, a fitted black shirt, a black denim jacket, black sneakers and his mask but in place of his blue-ish hair was a dirty blonde wig. Seeing this Mikan lagged behind the group so she couldn't be seen.

"I'm glad you made it Hyuuga. Don't you have a weapon?" Kazemi greeted

"Unlike you I don't have easy access to weapons." Natsume replied with a scowl

Sighing, Kazemi looked to Persona.

"Don't worry. I didn't plan on letting him go unprepared." Persona replied handing Natsume a black Smith and Wesson pistol and two extra magazines. He also handed him a pair of knuckle braces.

"If you run out of ammo later, do not throw the gun. Put it back in the holster and grab a gun from the enemy." Persona said sternly

Natsume just nodded, not really knowing what to reply.

"You do know how to shoot a gun right?" Ryosuke asked

"Anyway, take off the mask it isn't necessary." Kazemi butted in putting her hand out indicating him to hand it over.

Natsume handed his mask to Kazemi who kept it inside her weapons pouch.

"It's 04 10, it should only take us about thirty minutes to get there at top speed. By noon everyone should check in with each other and then sent updates every hour if possible then at 19 55 get ready to attack."

"So before we leave I believe everyone should get acquainted."

"Hyuuga, meet everyone. Everyone meet Hyuuga. Just raise your hand when I mention your name. So of course you know Persona, Anko, Genma, Gai, Angel, Demon, Naruto, Kakashi, Shikamaru, you already know Roukan, Zenshin and Ryosuke and I believe you are quite familiar with our last member, Mikan." Kazemi introduced and when she mention Mikan's name, she came out from behind Shikamaru, and when she showed herself Natsume's eyes widened into dinner plates in shock, his heart immediately racing.

There was a brief moment of silence, Natsume calming his racing heart and mentally getting himself back into focus while Kazemi and Mikan set their minds to only thinking of the mission and what they had to do.

"We should get going. Time is of the essence after all." Kakashi reminded the group breaking the silence.

The group just nodded and took off.

* * *

Natsume POV

We took off and were running at a pace I know I would have been hard up with if it wasn't for the training Namikaze had us go through earlier. We were the second to the last group in the formation, almost as if to protect our group, but I wouldn't really know. My mind is drifting between thinking of this mission and of the brunette ahead of me. Of all the times I get to see her again it's when I have a mission. Damn, there are so many things I want to ask her, to tell her but I can't. Talk about bad luck.

Because of the conflict in my mind I didn't notice that I was already lagging behind.

"Keep up Natsume. Stay focused." Mikan suddenly calls out to me which immediately snaps me out of my thoughts.

I sprint to catch up to her. I position myself to her left but I don't say anything because I'm already hard pressed to keep up with the speed they've set. I look at her and to my surprise she isn't even panting. It's either I've really let myself rust or she's been training really hard. I'd rather think it was the latter but I know the former was true.

After running at breakneck speed for 30 minutes we slow down and ahead I see the older Namikaze ahead of us.

…

Wait what? Okay, so they also have something like a doppelganger alice, peachy.

Namikaze and her brother talk in hushed tones while Mikan and I stay behind them.

The older Namikaze disappears in a puff of smoke and without a word the younger Namikaze leads us towards the Imperial Palace.

"Just follow my lead." Namikaze tells us as we approach the gate.

Huh, that's pretty ingenious of the AAO, who would've thought that they were hiding in plain sight all these years.

She talks to the guard in front and the guard's eyes widen and immediately lead us inside.

Huh, I wonder what she told him.

"She probably used her more infamous alias in the mercenary world, Death Wolf. But other than that, we asked our moles to inform the AAO of our arrival as new recruits, hence your disguise." Mikan revealed.

"Death Wolf huh, that woman sure has a lot of aliases. Why don't you have a disguise then?" I asked her

"They got wind of my training and tried to recruit me. I accepted as Persona ordered but we made sure that whenever they wanted me in I was assigned at their base in Kachidoki which we have successfully taken over with my help."

I raised my eyebrow sceptically. How come I wasn't informed of this? Anyhow, what's done is done. I'll ask questions later.

* * *

Normal POV: 11 00h

Mikan stood on the building's rooftop waiting for her other two companions. A frown was evident on her face, why wouldn't she when she had just gathered information that could very well fuck up the mission all together.

Natsume came in through the door just as Kazemi landed on the roof with a back flip.

"It seems that we have a problem." Kazemi said as she walked towards the two.

"We do. I caught wind that majority of the forces will be gathering here at the center. The purpose isn't really a matter but the fact that their forces would be gathered her in four hours leaves us no time to get enough information." Mikan added

"That and I just found out that they do have other members from other parts of the world but I haven't found just how we would be able to contact them." Natsume reported

"I've already informed the others of the situation and we've all agreed to bomb the other bases once everyone has left. They'll be running towards here as they set off the bombs. But once the bombs are set off there's sure to be conflict in here so we would have to quickly decimate as many as possible until the others get there. We can't set off the bombs together with the other buildings because there will be many runaways if we do so not to mention the attention it's gonna gather." Kazemi informed them

"Do we have a contingency plan?" Natsume inquired

Kazemi and Mikan looked at each other, as if a silent conversation was going on.

"We do."

They discussed it with Natsume briefly only telling him of what he had to do.

Half an hour later they went their separate ways.

* * *

Later at 15 00h

"The fleet's starting to come in." Mikan whispered to Kazemi

"I've gathered all that I can from their data base." Natsume reported

"All documents I could find have been replicated and stored." Mikan added handing a scroll to Kazemi.

"Good job. I've been talking to the big man. He's quite pleased with my apparent change of heart. He's too happy to suspect anything. For a mission gone awry the contingency plan is going quite smoothly." Kazemi replied hiding the scroll inside her weapons pouch.

"Remember, majority if not all of the members AAO are present here and we aren't allowed to blow the place up because of its historical value so stick to non-destructive attacks. Shoot if you must but make sure you don't miss." She added

"Have you killed before Hyuuga?" Kazemi pointedly asked

"Yes but never with my bare hands. I've always utilized my alice to… eliminate problems." Natsume replied

Kazemi frowned a little at his reply, forgoing her plan of loaning him a sword for easier 'pest control'.

"Never mind then. Naru-nii and the others would be just about ready to set the fireworks off by now. It's already 15 25, lights go out at 16 00. Are you sure that everything I've asked for is ready?" She asked

"Barrier seals check, silencing seals check. Ammo check, weapons check, timed short circuiting device in place. All we need is the signal taichou." Mikan replied reassuringly

Kazemi just nodded and signaled them to move to their assigned posts. They had to mingle with the crowd so there won't be any suspicions.

There was food to help them pass the time so they would walk by each other at the buffet table from time to time.

15 58, two minutes left.

The three went towards the edges of the room, Mikan moving a bit closer to Natsume and Kazemi making sure the other two were in her line of vision.

1 minute.

A random person smiles at Kazemi.

30 seconds.

Mikan catches a woman glance at Natsume.

15…

Natsume eyes his two companions.

10…

9…

8…

Natsume threads his fingers into the knuckles braces.

6…

Mikan and Kazemi reach for their swords.

3…

2…

_Bang_, _zzt._

The large doors of the room suddenly close with a loud bang.

Several gasps are heard, and immediately after a chorus of groans and gurgling is heard causing the occupants to look around in wonder.

The smell of iron slowly starts to stain the air causing panic.

Some people start to use their mobile phones as lights in search of the attacker.

Some who have started to panic so badly start brandishing their knives or whatever object they were holding blindly.

Yet all their actions were for naught.

The smell of iron got heavier as blood was continued to be spilled.

Groans were still heard from one corner followed by heavy thuds of bodies falling to the ground.

The three perpetrators were already nearing the center and the seven who were left were all hopelessly trying to defend themselves from an enemy they couldn't see.

Kazemi clicks her tongue to signal the two to stop. All that were left were the board of directors. They were entitled to play with their toys for a bit after all.

"Who are you?!" the big man shouted his voice painfully shaking in fear.

"Wouldn't you want to know?" Mikan replied flatly

"Don't kill us! We can give you anything you want, money, land, anything you name it! Just don't kill us!" Another pleaded

"What makes you think we even want any of those?" Natsume replied coolly, you can almost hear his eyebrow rise in amusement.

"Why are you doing this? We haven't done anything to you!"

"Oh, we just had to make sure there weren't any loose ends. There is a bigger problem than you guys after all so we decided to make sure there wasn't anything troublesome that would interrupt with our future task. But you don't really have to know that. You're going to die anyway." Kazemi replied swiping her sword to the side to rid it of blood.

The group of seven moved closer to each other after hearing and feeling the wind shift.

The three finally revealed themselves, stepping into the moonlight.

"You…" the big man accused

"Yes me." Kazemi replied with a smirk.

"I told you that she was bad news!" one of the other rats complained.

"Oho. So there is some brains in here. Why do you think I used my less liked name of Death Wolf? It was a warning, but lucky me you didn't even think about it. So this will be your death bed."

And with that she started to attack, Mikan and Natsume following in suit.

* * *

(1) I couldn't find any definite details about this so assume that whatever information I've put up about the location or whatever is incorrect or inconsistent with the anime (I never read the manga, so I'm not in the know of the 'newest' things about the fandom anymore... I just grew out of it I guess. But I'm aware of the fate of Natsume in the manga though and that's just about it.) I just made up the details for the sake of this chapter and based it off what I remember and what I see in the map of Tokyo and it isn't really accurate because all I had was a ruler and an image of the map from the internet.

* * *

Cliffy! See what happens in the next chapter.

But before that even happens, click on the Review button. Reviews help a lot :3


	14. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice or Naruto. The only things that belong to me are this FanFic and the Original Characters. However, I also do not own Demon and Angel as they rightfully belong to archdemonlord.

Warning: OOC characters.

Hey there guys! I know it's been a really long time since I last updated, but look! I'm still alive! Honestly I had planned for this to come out last year, but I was going through loss, and had a hard time going through the concept of death and everything that came along with it. I don't really want to bore you guys with drama but I doubt any of you would read this part anyway, so I'm still gonna explain. It was really hard for me to start writing on what I planned on writing because the reason why I couldn't write this part of the story at all was because I had lost my foster brother who I cared for deeply and thought of him as a real brother. He was in the Army, and died because of a landmine that cut through a major artery in his neck. It's been more than a year already since then and I still miss him very much and it's only now that I've been able to bring myself to write this out so please do forgive the delay.

My original plan was to have this chapter and the previous one as a single chapter but since I couldn't finish it because of my issues, I figured that I owed it to you guys, my readers, to update what I already had as to not to keep you waiting too long for this. So I decided to publish them as two separate chapters.

So again, I'm really sorry for the long delay and I hope that you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

(Me talking)

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

'_Telepathic talking'_

"_Flashbacks"/ Flashbacks_

_Conscience/ Inner self_ (whatever you'd like to call it)

Change Scene/Jutsu

* * *

Last time:

…

_"Have you killed before Hyuuga?" _

…

"_There is a bigger problem than you guys after all so we decided to make sure there wasn't anything troublesome"_

…

"_"I told you that she was bad news!"_

…

* * *

Chapter 13:

The last group assigned to the building they were currently in taken care of Mikan and Kazemi nodded at each other already knowing what had to come next.

"Hyuuga you're with me… Mikan go."

"Wait just a minute there Namikaze are you telling me that she's going off to fight who knows how many more people that will be coming alone?" Natsume protested causing Mikan to stop mid-step

"She won't be alone." Kazemi replied vaguely

"I refuse to going along with whatever you have planned Namikaze. I will not allow her to go to what could possibly be her death." Natsume said firmly

'Dammit Natsume don't make this anymore harder than it already is for me.'

Just for a brief second Kazemi and Mikan's eyes met silently communicating. Both almost at a loss of what to do… well… almost…

"What is it to you Hyuuga? I have complete trust in her skill set we have worked together multiple times already and I am sure of what she is capable of."

"That doesn't mean…" Natsume continued to protest only to be cut off

"Fuck you Natsume! Now you know how I felt every damned time you went off in a mission. Don't you dare think that I never knew that your alice was slowly eating away at your lifespan. Besides, you have no right to speak such words after what you did to me two years ago!" Mikan snapped

"Now isn't the time for drama. And Mikan, before you go off, take care of that wound on your side. Don't think I didn't notice." Kazemi interrupted before Natsume could reply.

"Mikan, if you just let me explain."

"Shut up." Kazemi ordered lacing her voice with a bit of youkai (demonic chakra)

'Dammit this is all going downhill. Natsume was too efficient when we were finishing that last group off. I was hoping for a 'slip up' while fighting them but he kept on assisting Mikan when he could whenever she purposely left openings for them.'

'_Don't you feel a bit weird referring to yourself as another person?'_ Natsuki couldn't help but ask

'_I do but it helps with the current situation.'_

"We've wasted a lot of precious time now. So fine, it would probably be faster if you went with her. I'll go ahead and rendezvous with Naruto-nii and the rest so we can finish off this place already."

With that said she ignored the two and just decided to summon as much of her wolves as she could telling them silently what the plan was.

Natsume and Mikan were about to set off but once Mikan was a few meters away – Natsume stopped and looked back to Kazemi looking at her with a hint of confusion, an undeniable amount of gratitude and a whole lot of other emotions fleeting through his eyes but those two were the most prominent.

Deciding to just push it to the back of her mind to think about later, she rushed towards where she was to meet Naruto and the others.

'_Natsuki, can you transfer keep track of Mikan and Natsume for me?'_

'_Way ahead of you…'_

15 minutes later and a handful of bodies lying on the ground (a couple of hundred would be more like it, bodies ranging from burnt to becoming jigsaw puzzles) Kazemi stood at the North West corner of the grounds where she was sure Naruto would be arriving at any moment now.

There were still a few more stubborn thugs who kept shooting round after round of their pistols at her but with a mild genjutsu (illusionary technique) she wasn't all that worried about getting hit.

'Naru-nii arriving at 5 30 in three… two… one…'

"I wasn't too late was I?" Naruto said sending a wind jutsu towards the shooters.

"Early actually, everything's fucked up… well not as fucked up as how this place is gonna look like in about an hour or even less."

"I say in less than thirty minutes, everyone's confirmed planting the explosive tags and getting whatever we could salvage from each point and are all on their way here as we speak. We just got information from Kakashi-sensei's pack and my summons where all the other outposts are, good thing I sent Gamakatsu (1) with them saves us the trouble." Naruto debriefed

"Great. Really saves us the trouble but then I am now one contingency plan short in case Natsume gets too over protective. Maa, whatever, things are gonna run its course pretty soon. I just want to get this over with already so we can get pass on all the drama already." Mikan sighed

"Hang in there. But seeing how this is going on pretty much like every mission of mine – what with me being Murphy's favorite as an example of his stupid law I'm pretty sure it's gonna present itself soon." Naruto comforted

"If something can go wrong, it will – and don't we know it." Mikan cited

"Let's just get on with it." Naruto replied just as Kakashi and Shikamaru arrived.

"Everyone is less than a minute away. They know what to do without having to meet up with us. We should get going and get whatever we can, bank records, accounts, anything we can use." Kakashi informed them.

The three nodding they went off back inside cutting through enemy lines like a hot knife through butter.

In five minutes they've filled the building with a few hundred more dead bodies and were now collecting whatever they could salvage for profit and benefit for themselves and the academy. But just as they were finishing up, Kazemi felt a cold shiver run up her spine.

'Fuck, Natsume's in trouble.'

'_Let it go. Mikan's there with him, besides this may be the opportunity you've been looking for all night. Let it run its course.'_

'_You have no idea how hard it is to go against my instincts._' Kazemi replied

'_But you are there, and you are with him as Mikan. So go on and do your job taichou.'_ Zenshin suddenly added shocking Kazemi at the sudden intrusion

'_Dammit 'Shin! Don't do that. I almost dropped my gun.'_ Kazemi scolded

Getting a half assed sorry, Kazemi continued on with gathering the papers she found and sealing them into a scroll.

* * *

With Natsume and Mikan

"So this is the infamous Kuro Neko from the Academy. Who would've thought he was just a flimsy boy with nothing but his alice to back him up."

Natsume held in a choke hold by a burly man in a suit with a gun pointed to his temple struggled to get loose. Mikan on the other hand stood staring, her hands ready to draw her sword.

"Ah, ah, ah…!" the man called out… "Now, now little missy, you wouldn't want anything to happen to your boyfriend now would you? So let's not do anything stupid."

Taking a deep breath Mikan relaxed her arms and put raised them up palms facing forward showing the man that she wasn't hiding anything.

'Deep breaths, you can do this, you've done it before and you can do it again.' Mikan told herself. 'I have to get Natsume out of his hold get him out of this room and get back in here to finish everyone off.'

They were surrounded by a number of 15 or so others and she was already running low on her chakra supply and also out of ammo. So all she was left with was her sword and a single exploding tag.

'Okay, so how do I do this? I switch in with Natsume, switch out with some debris, Sunshin outside get back in, which makes that three consecutive jutsu in a span of a few seconds. Come on, we can do this.' Taking a deep breath, hearing the man speak but not listening to what he was saying she mentally prepared herself. 'Let's just hope I have enough chakra to get us both out.'

Meeting Natsume's eyes to signal that she had something planned, Natsume stopped struggling and just as he stopped. He felt an odd sensation come over him and before he knew it he was outside the room they were just in.

Feeling a wave of disorientation come to him he anchored his weight to his feet to prevent him from falling and stabled himself on the wall to his left.

"What the fuck just happened?" Natsume asked himself. Looking around and realizing Mikan wasn't around his mind quickly thought of the worst and rushed to get back inside.

As he was entering the room, all he could hear was the sound of gun shots and the occasional sound of a body falling to the floor. Trying to strain his hearing better he could faintly hear the sound of heaving breathing hidden among all the sound of fighting.

His eyes searching frantically for Mikan, he couldn't help but feel so frustrated and angry with what was happening. Thoughts like, 'if only I was stronger' and 'if only I wasn't captured like that' running through his mind among many others.

At the corner of his eye caught the color brunette moving through the many other blurs.

"Mikan!" he called out hoping that she wasn't hurt.

'What the fuck is he doing back here?!' Mikan thought only to have said it out loud realizing that Natsume was a few meters at her back.

"Do you have a death wish or something?!" Natsume shouted seeing all the cuts on her clothes and the apparent blood stains on them; attention turning to him as a result.

"Oh-ho… So the knight has come back to save the princess eh?" said the man who was holding him hostage just a few moments ago. "And here I thought you'd run away already."

Mikan caught off guard with Natsume's arrival is grabbed by two of the thugs on either side of her.

'Fuck, I'd kawarimi out of this but I don't have enough chakra anymore, if I use anymore I'm gonna poof out and the plan is out of the roof.'

Her mind running quickly through the things she could do with what little she had left, she remembered that she still had an exploding tag on her.

'Luckily it doesn't take much chakra to activate. I have no other choice.' Mikan thought to herself, her head bowed down, her bangs covering her face; her body almost limping in resignation to what was to happen.

Thug-1 (the one who caught Natsume) picked up his gun that Mikan threw away just before Natsume came in and pointed it at Mikan looking at Natsume challenging him to do something, Thug-2 and Thug-3 tightening their hold on Mikan's arms that it was sure to bruise.

"So what's it gonna be Neko-kun? Surrender and I'll spare her life or I can kill her first right before your eyes and then kill you next." Thug-1 threatened.

Quickly thinking of his course of action which would, of course, involve using his alice; however, his thoughts were cut off when he heard Mikan murmur something.

"You were saying something princess?" Thug-1 asked already aiming the gun to Mikan's head for a sure kill.

"I said… 'Who said I was a princess needing saving?'" Mikan replied looking straight towards Thug-1 her eyes taking on the shine of the little moonlight that came through the skylight window and quickly shouting to Natsume to take cover. She pulled her hands together, grabbed the exploding tag, laced it with chakra and stuck it to the gun that was right in front of her and rolled away.

"What's a piece of paper…?" Thug-1 was about to say but was cut off by the explosion.

Natsume who barely registered what Mikan said was brought down by a black blur just as the explosion went off.

"We're going to need to work on your reflexes and reaction time later Hyuuga." Kazemi lectured looking down on Natsume, her hands on either side of his head, and her legs on either side of his legs.

"Wha…?" was all Natsume could say before he completely registered what just happened.

Standing up and brushing off dust on her, Kazemi held out her hand for Natsume to grab who was staring at her not recognizing her.

"Nami…kaze…?" Natsume wondered

"Who else…? Are you gonna get up or would you rather stay down there and rest?" Kazemi teased

When his mind had finally processed the sequence of events his first course of action was of course to bring himself up and run towards where he last saw Mikan.

"Mikan…!" He shouted as he spotted her body lying down on the ground with a pool of blood starting to form around her torso. "Mikan, wake up. Please wake up." He panicked seeing as the blood continued to ooze from a nasty wound on the side of her stomach even as he put pressure on it to keep it from bleeding any further.

Kazemi plodded towards them trying to keep her back straight and keep a cool demeanor but gradually failing.

Slowly opening her eyes, Mikan woke up but struggled to keep conscious.

"Natsume…" she breathed out struggling for breath

"Sssh… don't speak. Keep your strength you're gonna make it. Just stay with me, don't fall asleep." Natsume whispered to her brushing her hair away from her face so he could see her properly.

"It's… no use…"

"Don't give me that! I've lost you for two years and now that you're back I can't lose you again! There's so much I want to say to you so stay with me please." Natsume begged her.

Not able to take it Kazemi looked away from them and closed her eyes, tears already threatening to spill but she blinked those away and knelt on the opposite side of Natsume.

"I know… I've missed you too…" Mikan replied her hand moving towards one of the pockets of her coat. "Give me your hand." She said her hand fisted around something.

One of his hands reaching towards hers, he felt something fall to his palms causing him to look at said hand and what he saw caused him shock. The hand that was on her wound loosing pressure as he stared at the items.

"I'll do what I can with her wound, but I can't make any promises." Kazemi said quickly replacing his hand with hers lacing it with chakra to contain the bleeding.

"I thought that you would've thrown this away by now." Natsume said clutching the items near his heart. It was the necklace with the sakura petal and the kanji for fire in the middle that he had given her all those years ago for her birthday, along with her alice stone that he had made for her when they found out about her multiple alice. "But I don't understand, why give me your stone also?"

Mikan gave him a small smile in reply, not really having much strength to say anything anymore.

"Stay with me Mikan! Help is on the way." Kazemi called out feeling her pulse fade.

"Mikan, stay with me please…" Natsume stuttered tears already starting to spill from his eyes clutching her hand with his. "Squeeze my hand if you can still hear me. Squeeze my hand Mikan, please." He begged.

For a second there was nothing, and he thought that he was already losing her, but when he felt her hand tighten around his ever so slightly, he was given a new hope.

"These past two years has been unbearable, every time that I found a letter by my door step I just knew that it was going to be you. I've wanted to write back to you since the first letter but I couldn't find the words to say to you… But one thing is for sure, I wanted you to know that I had nothing to do with what you saw back then, she forced herself on me and it was just by bad luck that in the struggle we ended up in that position when you saw us. I looked for you everywhere but you just disappeared. There isn't a day that I regret what happened that day, more so now…"

"It hurt… but… I forgave…" Mikan replied the smile still on her face "I'm… sorry… doubting you…" she added still struggling

'So it was just that… damn myself and my thoughts for jumping to conclusions like that… I should've known.' Kazemi berated herself keeping silent and not looking at Natsume or Mikan's faces.

"Let's just start over, we've been beating around the bush for how many years now and we can't just end like this… we can't. I… love you… I always will Mikan. So please…" Natsume choked tears already running down his face.

"I… have always loved you… and I… will always… be with you… here…" Mikan replied her hand cradling his cheek and then pointing to where his heart was.

He took her hand and brought it to his chest wishing that his heartbeat would keep hers in rhythm.

They stayed there in silence waiting for the others knowing that the explosion would have called their attention.

Moments later, Naruto, Kakashi and Shikamaru entered the room. Naruto immediately kneeling down beside Kazemi and applying what basic medical knowledge he had, followed immediately by Shikamaru, who also knew some basic medic-nin knowledge due to his family, and Kakashi who managed to copy some iryou jutsu along the years.

Allowing them to do their job, Kazemi walked away from them only to be pulled into a hug.

"Are you alright?" Ryosuke whispered to her, one hand on the small of her back and the other on her head, letting her forehead rest on his chest.

Natsume who was pulled away from Mikan to allow the three impromptu medics to work on her by Genma squeezed his shoulder in comfort. This caused Natsume to look at him, not really knowing what else to do.

Genma, seeing the distraught state Natsume was in and seeing that Persona, the only other person he knew Natsume was familiar with, came in. He tapped Natsume on the shoulder and pointed towards the approaching Persona.

"We're too late… she's lost too much blood." Shikamaru grumbled applying what he could to Mikan's other injuries even though he knew that it was a lost cause.

"Shit, we're losing her! Naruto…!" Kakashi announced feeling her pulse disappear.

"No!" Natsume shouted starting to run back towards Mikan, only to be held back by Persona and Genma.

"You can't do anything to help her now, let them do their jobs." Persona told Natsume, pulling him towards his body in an awkward hug, preventing Natsume from seeing what was happening any further.

Time seemed to slow down for Kazemi and Natsume who were still being hugged.

Kazemi just wanted to get away from it all, she was getting sick and tired of all the lies that she had to put up with and all the sacrifices she had to make. She just wanted to be herself already and go back to how things were before all this happened.

Natsume on the other hand was just at a loss, one moment he was living his normal life (well as normal as a special alice user's life could get anyway), and the next thing he knows all those myths and legends that he used to read as a kid was all real, and that was practically going to bring the world as they knew it to an end only to be controlled by some sick bastard and next the only person he ever loved was dying just a few meters away from him, and he couldn't do anything about it. 'Just what has the world come to?' was what came to his mind that was barely registering what was happening around him anymore.

Minutes later, all was silent. Shikamaru huffing, trying to revive Mikan with CPR, but after a minute of trying to revive her with CPR and three short shocks of lightning chakra they knew that they had lost her.

"I'm calling it already." Shikamaru told his two companions after trying to feel for a pulse on her neck. "Time of death… 18 03…"

Hearing the announcement, Kazemi broke down and started crying, if it wasn't for Ryosuke hold her up she would have fallen on the floor.

Natsume on the other hand wouldn't believe them, so he broke away from Persona's hold and ran towards Mikan's lying form.

"No… no…! Mikan…!" Natsume screamed falling to his knees beside her, scooping her up to hug her close to him.

"I'm sorry… She must have been very important to you…" Naruto told him resting his hand on his shoulder and giving it a squeeze as a sign of comfort. His eyes filling with sympathy for the boy, but also wondering to where his little sister slash daughter was who was still crying her heart out.

'This is gonna be one hell of a week…' Naruto thought to himself, patting Natsume on the back he left and went towards the crying Kazemi whispering words to Ryosuke and taking her away from him carrying her in his arms like a father did to his daughter.

"I think it would be best if we went back now. You're welcome to stay with us for the night Hyuuga." Naruto said turning to where everyone had gathered which was around the seemingly sleeping Mikan and mourning Natsume.

Not letting go of Mikan, Natsume stood up carrying her lifeless body up – bridal style. But before he could take a step, Kakashi stopped him.

"I think it would be best if we keep her body out of view for now. I'm pretty sure your friends would be waiting once we get back. We don't want them to see her like this now would we?" Kakashi said holding a black scroll in his hand.

Natsume just nodded in reply, handing Mikan over to Kakashi not really comprehending what he had just said.

Gai, who took the scroll from Kakashi, laid the scroll out on the floor so Kakashi could seal her into it and with a puff of smoke Mikan's body was gone. Her name printed in white by Kakashi on the outside of the scroll.

Natsume stared at the scroll that Kakashi held in his hands, and when Kakashi's visible eye caught his – his unsaid question was answered with Kakashi handing the scroll over to him.

"We better get a move on, we have to blow this place up before news reporters catch wind of the unexplained bomb explosions all over the city and find out about all the bodies lying about the Imperial Palace." Shikamaru warned the group

"Brace yourselves guys, I'm about to bring us all home." Naruto announced getting his chakra ready to Hiraishin them all out.

* * *

The next morning

Everything was dull the next day, Kazemi was still out of it, clutching to Naruto like a life line. Natsume never let the scroll out of his sight not to mention that he kept following Persona around like a lost puppy who would occasionally turn around and face him, almost as if waiting for Natsume to ask the inevitable but every time he did, Natsume would open his mouth but no words would come out so he just turned around and let Natsume be for the time being.

So now the group of four sat around the breakfast table, the two teenagers picking at their food, not really in the mood to eat anything.

Kakashi and Shikamaru silently ate their breakfast but cast glances towards the stairs waiting for Naruto and hopefully Kazemi to come down.

Roukan went back to the summon realm to rest and recover, but not before promising that he'll be back before they left for school to watch over Kazemi who was sure to stay at home all day. Genma, Gai and Anko had already left the previous night after dinner to report to Tsunade, while Persona went to give a report to the headmaster and Angel and Demon left early that morning to arrange for Mikan's funeral among other things. And Natsume went off to the Northern Forest just before breakfast was served saying that he didn't want to eat, snapping at Zenshin who tried to argue otherwise.

Hearing footsteps from the stairs the four turned their heads to the sound hoping that a two people would be coming down only to be let down when Naruto appeared alone.

"How is she?" Ryosuke said standing up.

"As well as she can be in the state that she's in now. She wouldn't say a thing to me all night, just kept crying." Naruto sighed plopping down on a chair beside Kakashi.

Sighing in and dropping back to his seat in dismay, Ryosuke went back to playing with his food which was barely half done.

The three adults filled the room with light chatter mostly about trivial things like what they were eating that night and whose turn it was to cook when the door opened to reveal Natsume who still wore the clothes that he had the previous day.

"Why was your sister's hair black last night?" Natsume questioned not bothering to greet them good morning.

"Good morning to you too Hyuuga – and to answer your question, it's because that's what her natural hair color is." Naruto answered sipping on his coffee.

"She was wearing a wig this whole time?"

"No – it was a genjutsu which is something that you'll learn more about when we get to teaching you our techniques." Zenshin replied not bothering to expound further his answer knowing it will only generate more questions.

"For now I think it would be best if you changed out of those clothes. Persona dropped by your room to get you a change of clothes last night. It would be bad press if the students saw all those blood in your clothes." Naruto informed Natsume handing him the set of clothes. "We'll leave in 30 minutes. I'll take care of cleaning up."

Meanwhile in the Headmaster's Office

"I think it would be best if we called in Imai's group and tell them first before we announce what happened to the academy." Kaito, the headmaster, suggested

"In my opinion, I think it's better if only their group knew about it at all." Angel argued

"I know that you are concerned of your god daughter's friends as you have been familiar with them over the years but this is a matter also concerning the academy. All the students will be involved at one point and after what happened when Reo came to the school in the past, it is only right to tell them that they need not to worry about the group any longer." Kaito rebutted

"It's gonna be hard for them. But I don't think that they're gonna have time to worry about that with the training that they're going to be put into." Demon comforted his fiancé

"I'll be going to call them in then." Persona announced striding towards the door.

"Don't scare them too much now." Demon teased getting a tut from Persona in reply

* * *

Later in Class B

There was idle chatter amongst the students, though it wasn't so idle with a certain group who was concerned about the absence of a certain raven haired male.

"Ruka, did Natsume tell you anything at all the day before yesterday?" Hotaru questioned clearly worried for her friend

"No he didn't say anything… though he did say something about some Persona guy…" Ruka replied his eyebrows scrunched up in concentration trying to remember anything that happened that could explain their friend's sudden disappearance.

"Persona… wasn't he…?" Hotaru trailed off when from the classroom's front door, in came the person in question.

The classroom turned silent at his silent entrance. He didn't bother to stand at the center where the teacher's table was which meant he was just there for an announcement.

"Imai Hotaru, Nogi Ruka, Tobita Yuu, Umenomiya Anna, Ogasawara Nonoko, and Kokoroyomi you are called to the headmaster's office." He announced flatly and without bothering to wait for them he turned around and made a move to exit the classroom.

The six quickly followed him out, their exit followed by the chatter of their classmates.

"Wait!" Ruka called out running to catch up with Persona. "Natsume, where is he?" he asked stopping in front of Persona's path

"You will see him at the office."

"And what about Kazemi-sama and the others…?" Yuu asked remembering the absence of their three other classmates

"The same answer applies. Now if you would move out of the way, we have to get going. I have other things to do."

And with that Ruka stepped out of the way and proceeded to follow him to the headmaster's office.

* * *

Back at the Headmaster's Office

Once they arrived at the office, they were surprised to find Naruto in the office talking quietly to Natsume. But what surprised them wasn't the fact that Natsume was talking to Naruto but because of how Natsume looked like he was very much comfortable in the presence of the said adult. But after the surprise from that went away, they were more surprised with the fact that he obviously had bandages all around his body but didn't seem in pain at all which they were accustomed to seeing when he got a mission.

"I'm sure you've been worried about your friend here but we have other things to discuss so if you would all please take a seat?" Kaito said solemnly directing the group of six teenagers to the seats around the office.

Silence filled the room for a few minutes, the teenagers fidgeting from their place in unease, six of them wondering why they were called in the first place. Moments later, Ryosuke and Zenshin enter the room shaking their heads 'no' when met with Naruto's questioning eyes.

"Is Kazemi-sama alright?" Yuu couldn't help but ask when he noticed the interaction between Naruto and the two.

"She will be, she just needs time to rest for now." Naruto replied

"What happened to her?" Hotaru inquired, intrigued by all that was happening. First, Natsume was acting like he was close friends with Naruto's group when they were barely acquaintances a few days ago. Second, was the solemn tone that the headmaster addressed them previously with and finally there was the absence of the younger Namikaze who despite her obvious injuries (which were probably near fatal) from her previous mission was still able to walk around energetically the last time they saw her was now in need of rest after missing a single school day. Which only gave Hotaru one conclusion.

"The answer to that is related to why we have called you in today." Kaito replied pausing to see if the youth had figured something out but continued before they could ask any questions.

"You remember that last week, you were informed of what is expected to happen in a year which is the reason you are now being trained by our shinobi friends. In relation to that the academy, with deliberation with Naruto-san here, decided it would be best if we were to tie up some loose ends so to speak."

"You're talking about the Anti-Alice Organization am I correct sir?" Hotaru inquired clearly not liking where this was all going

"Yes, so last week it was decided that we were going to eliminate the AAO entirely, so two nights ago, Naruto-san here, along with 14 others, were set to disable their operations, permanently. Among these 14, were Kazemi-san Seshina-kun, Kimura-kun, Hyuuga-kun and Sakura-kun."

The revelation brought gasps to the room. However, Kaito was still not finished so he continued:

"The plan commenced yesterday morning and was carried out at exactly 16 00, finished at 17 47 and the group came back at exactly 18 09. The gap, unfortunately, isn't their travel time…"

Hotaru didn't want to listen anymore, she already knew what he was trying to tell them, but she wanted to hear it herself. She braced herself, clutching Ruka's hand, but tears were already starting to build up in her eyes.

"That time was dedicated to tending to the wounds of Sakura-kun who got caught in an explosion when trying to save Hyuuga-kun." Kaito told them, already bracing himself to hear the wails of the young girl's friends.

Telling Kaito that it would be best if it was he who told the group what happened instead. Naruto stepped forward.

"We arrived at the scene at 17 55, Kazemi was applying pressure the wound that she had on the side of her stomach to keep it from bleeding any further. We took over and did what we could, applying all the field medical assistance that we could provide but she had lost so much blood already and we didn't have the supplies to replenish her blood, we were hoping to close the wound so she would be viable for transport but before we could close it we had already lost her pulse, we tried CPR and shocking her but she wouldn't come to, we called time of death at 18 03." Naruto finished avoiding the group's eyes knowing the pain and anguish they were experiencing. "She died a true ninja of Konohagakure." Naruto added

A thud resonated over the room, followed by repetitions of the word 'no' and the phrase 'I don't believe this.' And later sobs, wails and sniffles filled the room.

Natsume, who already had his share of breaking down, cried silently in his chosen corner hiding his face from the world…

* * *

(1) Gamakatsu – (lit) exploding frog; well I'm not really sure if that's what it's really supposed to mean. But that's what I wanted it to come across as. He doesn't really exist in the manga or the anime, just made him up to be the demolitions expert for Naruto's summon.

* * *

Sooo, what you guys think? This is actually my first time writing something like this so your reviews will be greatly appreciated, and constructive criticism is welcome as well. Just click on the review bottom below. Thank you! See you in the next chapter and I thank you all greatly for you patience.


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